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ALASKA 



ALASKA 

ITS HISTORY AND RESOURCES 

GOLD FIELDS 

ROUTES AND SCENERY 



7 

MINER BRUCE 



SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED 



ILLUSTRATED 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK & LONDON 

Gbe "Knickerbocker press 

1899 



i "<■ •— »r ,~ _ 



Copyright, 1895 
By LOWMAN & HANFORD STATIONERY & PRINTING CO. 

Revised and Enlarged Edition 

Copyright, 1899 

By MINER BRUCE 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 



two copies r«£u::ivfc0. 



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XCbe Ifcnfcfeerbocfcet press, Hew HJorfe 









PREFACE 

I FIRST went to Alaska in 1889, and subsequent in- 
vestigation and research so impressed me with its 
future possibilities that in 1893 I issued a small book 
on Alaska, and gave it the title The Coming Country. 
Viewed in the light of after developments, it seems to 
have been prophetic. 

In 1895, I issued a more comprehensive work entitled 
Bruce 's Alaska, and the growing interest in that region 
seems to justify the publication of this volume, in which 
I have undertaken to give an intelligent idea of the vast 
and varied resources of Alaska, its past and present, and 
the bright outlook for its future, based upon ten years of 
travel and observation. 

A more complete reference to what is known as South- 
east Alaska than is herein contained may be found in my 
monograph in the United States Census Report for 1890, 
and a more detailed account of the Eskimos of Alaska 
will be found in my report to the Bureau of Education. 
Both may be had free upon application to their respec- 
tive departments in Washington. 

While the interest in this region, aroused by the won- 
derful discoveries of gold in the Klondike, is bounded 
only by the limits of the two hemispheres, the world 
does not yet realise the vastness and variety of its 
resources. 



IV PREFACE 

On account of its severe climatic conditions, the estab- 
lishing of new enterprises and the carrying on of mining 
pursuits can be accomplished only with great difficulty. 

I need give no admonition or advice " to go," for 
already the tide of emigration has turned toward this 
portion of the domains of the midnight sun, and the 
bleak hills of Alaska are swarming with hurrying thou- 
sands eager to identify themselves with this new Eldo- 
rado ; but if anyone expects to succeed there without 
experiencing the hardships and privations incident to 
pioneer life, he will be disappointed. 

Miner Bruce. 

New York, April, 1899. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

History i 

Alaska — Discovered by Vitus Bering in 172S — Discovery of Mt. 
St. Elias — Search of the Spaniards— Capt. Cook — Vancouver — 
Purchase of Alaska in 1867 — Origin of Name — Geographical Extent 
— First Lease of Fur-Seal Islands — Organic Act — A Prohibition 
Country — Liquor-License Law — Smuggling of Liquor — Conven- 
tions and Memorials to Congress — Efforts to Secure Congressional 
Legislation — Homestead Laws Extended to Alaska — Passage of 
Criminal Law Code — Opposition to Territorial Organization — 
President should Appoint a Delegate. 

CHAPTER II 
Topography . - 21 

Elements of Grandeur — Verdant Islands — Two Great Natural Di- 
visions — Numerous Fiords — Frozen Ground — Immense Valleys — 
Luxuriant Vegetation — Lakes and Tundra — Guiding Landmarks 
— Mountain Peaks and Volcanoes — Mt. Bogoston — Priest Rock — 
New Eddystone Rock — Hot Springs — Cape Prince of Wales — Dio- 
mede Islands — Bering Strait — Railroad across the Strait — Railroad 
from Skaguay — Railroad in Western Alaska — Inducements for 
Railroad Building — No Large Metropolis. 

CHAPTER III 
Climate and Agriculture ..... 32 

Japan Current — Precipitation of Coast Country — Average Rain- 
and Snowfall — Great Diversity of Climate — Healthfulness of 
Alaskan Climate — Dense Vegetation — Cultivation of Root Crops — 
Cereals and Grasses — Wild Berries — Agricultural Experiments — 
Secretary of Agriculture Recommends Experimental Stations — 
Interior as a Stock-Raising Country — Tundra. 



VI CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IV 

PAGE 

Mineral and Timber . . . . . • 3^ 

First Discovery of Gold in South-east Alaska — Great Treadwell 
Mine — Progress of Mining — Rich Deposits of Silver and Galena 
Ore — Free Milling Ore — Copper River — Cook Inlet — Russian 
Placer Mining in Early Days — Golofnin Bay and Neukluk River — 
Kotzebue Sound — Yellow Cedar — Spruce and Hemlock — Timber 
of the Interior — Bituminous Coal. 

CHAPTER V 

Fisheries 56 

Salmon-Canning Industry — Varieties of Fish in Alaskan Waters — 
Capacity of Canneries — A Cannery Trust — Salmon Streams — River 
of Life — Development of Alaska Retarded — Cod and Halibut 
Fishing — Immense Schools of Herring — Oolikon or Candle-Fish. 

CHAPTER VI 
Land and Sea Animals ...... 63 

Fur-Seal Industry — Seal Rookeries — Sixty-Mile Limit — England 
Derives Greatest Benefit — Threatened Extermination of Fur Seal 
— Paris Tribunal — Lease of Islands — Hunting the Sea Otter — 
Brown and Black Bear — Thlinkit Legend — Home of the Beaver 
— The Black, Red, White, Blue, and Cross Fox — Marten — 
Mink — Polar Bear — Lynx — Wolverine — Deer, Moose, and Other 
Animals — Eagles and Humming-Birds — The Feathery Tribe — 
Black Whale — Whalebone — Vast Resources of Alaska. 

CHAPTER VII 
Reindeer 84 

Importation of Reindeer — Starving Eskimos and Cause of Same — 
First Reindeer Station — Arctic Alaska Natural Feeding-Grounds 
for Reindeer — A Boon to the Eskimos — Habits of Reindeer — 
Manner of Driving — Reindeer for Transportation — Sledges and 
Harness — Reindeer Good Travellers — Congress Appropriates $25,- 
000 — First Efforts Ridiculed — Failure of Reindeer Importation 
from Lapland — Heroic Conduct of Lieutenants Jarvis and Bertholf, 
Surgeon Call, and W. T. Lopp — Eskimo Dog. 



CONTENTS VI 1 

CHAPTER VIII 

PAGE 

Eskimo Habits and Customs ..... 93 

Origin of the Eskimo — Resemblance to Japanese — Extent of 
Country Occupied — An Eskimo Dwelling — An Industrious People 
— Primitive Manner of Making Fire — Slaves to Tobacco — Oomiak 
and Kyak — Snow-Shoes — Eskimo Traits — Ornaments and Tattoo- 
ing — Artiger or Coat — Eskimo Rain Coat — Polygamy Practised — 
Athletic Sports — Dancing Principal Amusement — Religious Un- 
belief — Worthy Objects of Charity. 

CHAPTER IX 
Alaska Indians ....... 108 

Their Origin — Languages Spoken — Quass — Totem Pole — Witch- 
craft — Exorcising Evil Spirits — Cremation still Practised — Sha- 
mans or Doctors — Expert in Carving and Engraving — Chilkat 
Blanket — Atonement for Murder — Blackening Faces — Houses of 

Natives. 

CHAPTER X 

Missions and Schools 116 

Russian Missionaries — A Strange Admixture — Little Progress 
Made — Indian Attendance at School not Encouraged — Long Neg- 
lect of Congress to Provide Civil Government — Public-School 
System Established — Indian Industrial Training School — Devotion 
of Missionaries and Teachers — Rev. William Duncan — Christian 
Martyrs — Evil Influences — The Remedy. 

CHAPTER XI 
Picturesque Alaska ........ 124 

From Seattle to Sitka — The Season for Tourists — Seattle — Tacoma 
— Port Townsend — Victoria — Nanaimo — Seymour Narrows — Chat- 
ham Sound — First Glimpse of Alaska — New Metlakahtla — Fort 
Wrangel — Wrangel Narrows — Taku Inlet — Juneau — Treadwell 
Mine — Lynn Canal — Skaguay — Dyea — Glacier Bay — The Silent 
City — Muir Glacier — Peril Strait — Sitka — Mt. Edgecombe — The 
Far Beyond. 

CHAPTER XII 

Routes to the Interior 151 

Seattle the Rendezvous — Detailed Description of Routes — The 
English Gold Commissioner — Forty Mile — Fort Cudahy — St. 



vi n CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Michaels — Skaguay Trail — Stikeen River Route — New Telegraph 
Line — Taku Route — Dalton Trail — Dawson — St. Michaels — Ska- 
guay — First Railroad in Alaska — Mackenzie River Route — Back- 
Door Route. 

CHAPTER XIII 
Yukon Gold-Fields . . . . . . .178 

Gold First Discovered — Stewart River as Early Diggings — Its 
Promising Prospects — Perhaps the Coming Camp — Quartz Ledges 
on Stewart River — Forty Mile, Sixty Mile, Miller, Glacier, and 
Birch Creeks — Indian River — Munook — Its Bright Prospects — 
Character of Gold — Koyukuk River — Kuskoquim River — Large 
Nugget — Prospecting for Quartz — Life of Placer Miner. 

CHAPTER XIV 
Klondike . . . . . . . . .192 

Klondike — First Discovery — Stampede from Circle City — Bonanza 
Creek — Hunter — Bear — Adams — Dominion — Gold Bottom — Skoo- 
kum — Eldorado — Alex. McDonald — Mounted Police — First Season 
on the Klondike — Mrs. Lippy — Mrs. Berry — Country Back of 
Dawson — Character of Country — Winter Diggings — Burning off — 
Gulch and Bench Claims — Quartz in Adjacent Mountains. 

CHAPTER XV 

Suggestions to Prospectors ..... 201 

Where to Secure Supplies — Amount of Money Necessary — Letters 
of Credit — Certificate of Deposit — Quantity of Supplies — How to 
Pass over Summit — Advice to Women — Every Man for Himself — 
Kind of Sled Needed — How to Care for It — Arms and Ammunition 
— Size of Pack — Legal Boundary Post — Eye-Shades — Eskimo 
Boots — Food — List of Supplies. 

CHAPTER XVI 
Disputed Territory . . . . . . .214 

The Boundary Dispute — Claims Made by the British Government 
— The Treaty between Russia and England — Line of Demarcation 
— Absurdity of British Claims — Ten-Marine-League Limit — Port- 
land Canal — Language of Treaty — Why Great Britain Wants this 
Territory — An Outlet to the Interior. 

Index .......... 227 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



A Dangerous Place on the " World's Cut-off," Skaguay 
Trail ........ Frontispiece 

Totem Pole 2 

Russian Block House at Sitka 5 

Mount Bogoston Volcano -4 

Priest Rock, Entrance to Bering Sea, near Unalga Pass . 26 
Eskimo Village at Cape Prince of Wales, Western Ex- 
tremity of the Continent 28 

Landing Railroad Supplies near Unalaklik .... 30 
Oats, Barley, Flax, Potatoes, Grasses and Clover Grown 

by the Department of Agriculture at Sitka, 1S98 . . 36 

The Treadwell Ledge 38 

The Great Treadwell Mill . . . . . .40 

Map of GoLOFNi'ij Bay and Neukluk River Gold-Fields . 48 

Indian Canoes n 56 

Karluk Sand Spit and "River of Life" . . . . .58 

A Seal \ 63 

Fur Seal Rookery, St. Paul Island 64 

Killing Fur Seal, St. Paul Island 66 

Seal in Water . , 67 

Eskimo Village on King's Island, North Bering Sea . . 84 

Herd of Reindeer Lying Down 86 

Reindeer Team 92 

Artmarhoke Dressed as a Japanese 96 

Eskimo Twin Sisters (Artmarhoke and Zakariner) . . 98 
Eskimo Boy, Eskimo Hut, Eskimo Girls, Eskimo Family, 

Eskimo Spearing Walrus 102 

ix 



ILL US TRA TIONS 



A Typical Alaska Eskimo Girl . 

Indian Doctor 

South-Eastern Alaska Indians and Canoes 

Sitka at 10.30 p.m. ... 

New Metlakahtla l 

Greek Church at Sitka, Exterior View . 

Greek Church at Sitka, Interior View l . 

Grenville Channel, on Tourist Route 

Juneau 

The Silent City .... 

Front of Muir Glacier j 

Crevasse on Top of Muir Glacier 

Baranoff Castle .... 

Sitka Harbour .... 

Yukon Miners at Sheep Camp 2 . 

Yukon Miners Sledding over Route 2 

Yukon Miners Packing over Route 2 

Yukon Miners and Natives Packing over Route 2 

Yukon Miners at Stone House 2 . . . 

Yukon Miners and Natives at Summit of Chilkoo 

Yukon River through the Canyon . 

Unloading Freight from Barge at Skaguay . 

Winter on the Skaguay Trail .... 

Map of American and Mission Creek Gold-Fields 

Map of Forty Mile Creek Gold-Fields . 

Map of Birch Creek Gold-Fields 

Map of Munook Creek Gold-Fields 

A Yukon Nugget .... 

Map of Klondike Gold-Fields . 

Map of Alaska .... 



PAGE 

104 
112 
114 
118 
120 
126 
128 
132 
138 
142 
144 
146 
148 
148 
152 
154 
156 
158 
160 
162 
164 
166 
168 
178 
182 
184 
186 
190 
194 
In pocket at end 



r Pass' 



Reproduced from a photograph by La Roche, Seattle, Wash. 
Reproduced from a photograph by Winter & Pond, Juneau, Alaska. 



ALASKA 



ALASKA 



CHAPTER I 

HISTORY 

ALASKA is the name of all that portion of the north- 
west extremity of this continent, which, until 1867, 
was known as Russian America. 

It is only a matter of conjecture how long this region 
would have remained a terra incognita had not the Im- 
perial Government at St. Petersburg sent Vitus Bering, 
a Dane by birth, on a voyage of discovery. The year 
1728 saw him in command of an expedition whose object 
was to find, if possible, new lands, and whose course led 
through the waters east of Siberia until he arrived in the 
great closed sea that now bears his name. 

The object of this expedition does not appear in any 
degree to have been a desire to contribute to the cause 
of science; but the prime motives were aggrandisement 
and to extend the limits of trade. 

During this voyage, Bering discovered that the two 
continents were separated by only a narrow stretch of 
water at the point now known as Bering Strait, and that 



ALASKA 



the coast of the one was plainly visible from the shores 
of the other. The year following, this intrepid navi- 
gator endeavoured to find a coast-line 
across the waters to the eastward, but 
failed in his attempt. 

Immediately following this cruise, and 
for many years after, there were rife ru- 
mours which seemed to gather impetus 
with each recurring year, aided, doubt- 
less, by Bering's own record of his voy- 
ages, that a rich country lay in the " Far 
Beyond," and so the Russian Govern- 
ment was stimulated to persist in its 
efforts. 

In 1 741, Bering again set sail with two 
vessels. Severe weather and heavy fogs 
caused them to drift apart ; one of them 
attempted a landing at Cook Inlet, but 
the Indians attacked and killed a num- 
ber of the party, and caused the re- 
mainder to put to sea and make their 
way homeward as fast as possible. 
illfe^*' Bering, however, sailed farther east- 
totem pole. ward, and sighted an island near Cape St. 
Elias now known as Kayak Island. There appears to have 
been no extended exploration at that time ; for, ere long, 
we are told, Bering also turned the course of his vessel 
westward, and, being beset by violent storms, was 
stranded east of the Gulf of Kamtchatka, upon the is- 
land which now bears his name ; and there shortly after, 
being overtaken by disease, he died and was buried. 



u 



HISTORY . 3 

To this fearless explorer belongs the honour of dis- 
covering and naming Mt. St. Elias, which, towering 
18,000 feet heavenward, stands a weird and grandly 
beautiful monument to his memory. This snowy shaft 
marks the southern point of the boundary line separating 
South-east Alaska from the great region, extending many 
hundred miles northward to the frozen ocean, known as 
Western Alaska; an august sentinel, clad in robes of 
white, there it stands, forever keeping a silent vigil over 
the waters of the mighty Pacific. 

The Spaniards, in the prosecution of their search for 
the supposed passage to India, which was the great ob- 
jective point of their early navigators, were gradually 
extending their explorations northward from the South 
American and Mexican coasts. In 1592, Juan de Fuca 
reached as far north as the strait that now bears his name, 
and in 1775 we find that Spanish explorers had reached 
Sitka. 

The Russians, in the meantime, had arrived at Una- 
laska. 

Nor had the English forgotten to send representatives 
to this new field of exploration. Captain Cook, one of 
the most daring navigators of his time, justly shares with 
Bering, who preceded him, as does also his young lieu- 
tenant, Vancouver, who followed him, the glory and 
honour of navigating the waters of Bering Sea and the 
North Pacific. It was on his return voyage that Cook 
was treacherously killed, and, it is believed, eaten by 
the natives on one of the Sandwich Islands. 

The uncompleted work of Captain Cook fell upon the 
shoulders of a worthy successor, and the surveys which 



4 ALASKA 

Vancouver commenced about 1792 covered his name with 
glory. The remarkable care and ability with which he 
executed the work begun by his old commander are, even 
in this day of improved facilities of maritime science, held 
in honour; for his charts are closely followed and in the 
main found reliable. 

From the time of the planting of the Czar's flag upon 
the soil of this great unknown country, its honour was 
sullied by acts of oppression and cruelty. The Russian- 
American Fur Company had securely planted its trading 
posts throughout the new territory, but its rule was char- 
acterised by the most barbarous conduct, and it became 
so notorious that at the expiration of its charter in 1862 
the Government was forced to deny further franchise. 

Three years later, in 1865, the Western Union Tele- 
graph Company proposed to construct a line from San 
Francisco northward through the Pacific States and Ter- 
ritories to connect with the Russian line at its then ter- 
minus, Amoor, Siberia. Many miles of line were built, 
but the route failed of completion because of the success- 
ful laying of the Atlantic cable, and after an expenditure 
of over $3,000,000 the enterprise was abandoned. 

The path of the proposed route can yet be traced for 
many miles in the North-west Territory by the poles that 
are standing with wires stretched between them. The 
outpost of the party engaged in its construction reached 
a point and made its winter quarters within sixty miles 
of the extreme western limit of the continent, and the 
remains of two members of the party lie buried in graves 
dug in the icy shore, two miles east of the United States 
reindeer station at Port Clarence, Alaska. 



HISTORY 



The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 
1867, paying the sum of $7,200,000 for it. At the time 
of the purchase this was generally looked upon as an 
extravagant expenditure; but ridicule at the action of 
Secretary Seward in this transaction has been changed 




RUSSIAN BLOCKHOUSE AT SITKA. 

to a sentiment that credits him with shrewd diplomacy 
in thus securing this great territory. 

Conjecture is never idle, and various reasons have been 
assigned why Russia disposed of her vast possessions on 
this continent. 

It has been said that the United States commenced the 
negotiation to remunerate Russia, under the guise of pur- 
chase, for her friendly attitude toward us during the civil 



6 ALASKA 

war. Many also believe that Russia sought to dispose of 
this territory to the United States that England might 
not, in some way, absorb it, and so strengthen her 
already powerful hold on this continent. The most 
reasonable solution of the question, however, is, that she 
wished to be relieved of the care and protection which 
her subjects so constantly required of her in maintaining 
the semblance of a government on this continent, so 
far removed from her own shores. This view is also 
strengthened by the fact that Russia at no time from the 
earliest acquisition of the territory manifested any special 
interest in its development, and that the motives that 
actuated her in holding her possessions were largely in- 
fluenced by the Russian-American Fur Company. 

While the name " Alaska " has been a synonym for a 
bleak, inhospitable waste of ice and snow, its literal in- 
terpretation will permit of no such construction. The 
aboriginal word is " Al-ak-shak," and means a great 
country. 

Covering a country eight hundred miles north and 
south by about seven hundred east and west, containing 
six hundred thousand square miles, or an area equal to 
one-sixth of all the rest of the United States, it seems an 
empire in itself. 

It was Charles Sumner who, at the time of the pur- 
chase, suggested the name " Alaska," and it was as a 
compliment in return for his warm advocacy of the pur- 
chase that Secretary Seward sanctioned the suggestion. 

In 1890, the lease of the fur-seal islands to the Alaska 
Commercial Company expired, and at that time Alaska 
may be said to have emerged from a mantle of gloom 



HISTORY 7 

and desolation. By this we mean that the great barrier 
in the way of its development was removed when this 
industry passed into other hands. 

The day that marked the lowering of the Russian flag 
at Sitka and the hoisting of the Stars and Stripes realised 
the conception of a plan between a few shrewd men who 
saw in the fur-seal industry a great opportunity to make 
money. For many years, under the Russian regime, 
these islands had been made to yield a large revenue to 
those who controlled the business, but it remained for 
the men who formed this new combination to make it 
one of the richest private enterprises that ever thrived 
under this or any other Government. 

Quietly, and before the vastness of the undertaking 
became known, it had passed into the hands of men who 
knew how to manipulate it, and for a period of twenty 
years, millions of dollars were made and many men be- 
came millionaires. Nor did the avarice of the combina- 
tion stop here. Trading posts were established all along 
the southern coast, and within a short time, upon the 
banks of every stream of any importance that pours 
its waters into Bering Sea, a trading post was stationed, 
and a sharp, shrewd frontiersman, in the employ of this 
company, was there to trade his wares to the natives in 
exchange for furs. 

It is reasonable to suppose that a combination which 
had the foresight and tact to secure from a great Govern- 
ment the monopoly of so rich a franchise, would also 
be able to absolutely control all the territory it sought 
to encompass from the encroachments of competition. 
During the entire time that the company held possession 



8 ALASKA 

of this lease, it took care that the impression should pre- 
vail that Alaska was good for naught save the production 
of fur-bearing animals. In doing this it used the strategy 
which other business corporations would be likely to use 
to protect their own interests. 

But the eyes of an adventurous world are never long 
blinded, and during the last years in which they con- 
trolled this lease the company was charged with every 
conceivable crime, and was constantly obliged to defend 
itself against charges of mistreatment of natives. Invest- 
igation, however, always exonerated them, and showed 
that the complaints were the outgrowth of petty malice 
on the part of discharged employees or of jealousy among 
rival fur dealers who were not in the combination. 

By the terms of the lease it was liable at any moment 
to be annulled for neglect or mistreatment of natives, 
and this would " destroy the goose that laid the golden 
egg." Knowledge of the business methods of these men 
will effectually dispel any suspicion that they would, by 
word or deed, commit an offence that would destroy the 
source of so vast a revenue. 

But there came a time when the grip that this company 
held upon Alaska must be relaxe^and the spring of 1890 
saw the lease of the fur-seal islands pas^s into the hands 
of the North American Commercial Company. 

The whole southern coast was invaded by the pie*^ 
combination, which established trading posts at every 
point that promised business with the natives. With 
the advent of the new company, a monthly mail route, 
for seven months of the year, was opened from Sitka to 
Unalaska, and post-offices were established at different 



HISTORY 9 

points, thus affording an opportunity to reach sections 
of the country that theretofore had been practically 
unknown. 

While the extension of the mail service has not yet re- 
sulted in the building up of any considerable towns or 
villages, the effect has been to open communication be- 
tween the southern coast of Alaska and the outside world. 

The census of 1890 gave the white population at 4300, 
but during the last nine years these numbers have been 
largely augmented, and it is safe to say that the white 
population will now aggregate 20,000. Since that date, 
also, the mining interests of the Territory have largely 
increased, especially in the interior, and with the recent 
discoveries of gold in the Yukon region the country has 
grown with great rapidity. 

The government of Alaska, covering the period from 
its acquisition to the year 1884, was more of a military 
form than otherwise. The only officers stationed in the 
Territory were those belonging to the customs service. 
It was their duty to see that any infringement of the 
laws, as, for instance, smuggling liquor into the Terri- 
tory, or selling the same to Indians or white men, was 
corrected ; and, if necessary, they invoked the aid of the 
military or naval force. 

About the year 1880, the white residents of South-east 
Afeska began to discuss the feasibility of securing some 
sort of civil government for the Territory. And in the 
summer of 188 1 a convention was held at Juneau, which 
resulted in the selection of Mottrom D. Ball as a dele- 
gate to Congress. The following winter he appeared in 
Washington, presented his credentials, and asked to be 



10 ALASKA 

recognised as a delegate from the Territory of Alaska. 
Further than to attract some attention to the condition 
of its affairs, Mr. Ball's visit to Washington was of no 
great value, for he was not permitted to take his seat. 
Still, the wedge had been applied to the encasement of 
the difficulties that encompassed Alaska, and the light 
of intelligent investigation was dawning on her horizon. 
During the next session of Congress, various bills were 
introduced looking to the passage of laws that would give 
to Alaska some semblance of a civil government. 

In 1883, Senator Benjamin Harrison introduced a bill, 
which became a law the following summer. It is called 

The Organic Act of Alaska," and provides for the ap- 
pointment of a governor, district judge, clerk of the 
court, marshal, collector, and four United States commis- 
sioners, one of whom is to reside in each of the principal 
towns of the Territory, the other officers to reside at Sitka, 
which, by this act, was made the temporary capital ; and 
all these officers were to be appointed by the President. 

This act, though very defective when viewed by the 
light of the past fourteen years, was still a step in the 
direction of a civil government. 

Alaska is essentially a prohibition country. It pro- 
hibits the cutting of timber, and the exporting of the 
same out of the Territory ; it prohibits the killing of fur 
seal, except under certain restrictions, which give to a 
company the exclusive control of the same; and until the 
passage of the law of March 3, 1899, it prohibited the 
sale or manufacture of whiskey in the Territory, though 
previous to that date it could be had in almost any village 
or hamlet within its borders ; and notwithstanding this 



HIS TOR V 1 1 

absolute prohibition, the Government saw fit to collect 
an internal-revenue tax from all persons having it for sale. 
The governor was permitted to use his discretion as to 
whom he would grant a license. 

The attempt on the part of the Government to restrain 
this traffic in Alaska proved to be a ludicrous farce, be- 
cause of the wholly inadequate means at the disposal of 
the officers whose duty it was to execute the laws. 

This condition of affairs culminated in the passage of a 
law on March 3, 1899, providing for the selling of intoxi- 
cating liquors in Alaska, and a license to be granted to 
any person by order of the district judge when a majority 
of the white male residents over the age of eighteen years, 
within two miles of the proposed saloon, shall have signed 
a petition therefor; but the license shall not be issued for 
a period to exceed one year at a time. 

The fee for a wholesale license shall be $2000 per year ; 
for a retail license when the population is over 1500, 
$1500 per year; in settlements of 1000 inhabitants, 
$1000; and in those of less than 1000 inhabitants, $500 
per year. 

Druggists may keep liquor for sale and for compound- 
ing of prescriptions without paying a license, but can sell 
only upon a prescription of a reputable physician. 

As there is but one district judge in all Alaska, who is 
located at Sitka, and as liquor cannot be sold until after 
a license has been issued, it is plain to be seen that an 
applicant for a license for carrying on business in the 
western part or interior of Alaska may not secure the 
same for several months after application is made. In- 
deed the period of the year for which it may have been 



12 ALASKA 

granted is liable to have expired before it reaches him. 
As a fine and imprisonment are the penalty for selling 
liquor without a license, the revenue arising from the 
business is apt to prove insufficient to compensate him 
for any infraction of the liquor law. 

From the earliest settlement of Russian America down 
through the years since the purchase by the United 
States, the liquor question has overshadowed every 
other, and the sturdy miners and those following other 
pursuits, and especially the missionary people, have been 
in constant anxiety as to the effect unexecuted liquor 
laws would have upon the native population. 

The visit to Alaska of Assistant Secretary of the 
Treasury Hamlin, in 1894, resulted in sending into the 
waters of South-east Alaska additional revenue cutters 
for the purpose of suppressing the smuggling of whiskey 
from British Columbia, and although they have patrolled 
the waters diligently and sent officers ashore for the pur- 
pose of intercepting cargoes of liquor known to have been 
shipped into the Territory by small sloops, the vigilance 
of the search has as yet been rewarded by the capture of 
but a very small portion of the amount smuggled. 

The nature of the country is such that its many intri- 
cate and winding channels afford most favourable oppor- 
tunities for the smuggling of liquor into the territory, 
and it is doubtful if any rules could be adopted, even to 
the regular patrolling of its waters by Government vessels, 
that would prevent the traffic. 

The impossibility of suppressing this traffic became so 
apparent that the best and most respected citizens of the 
Territory united in the opinion that the only way to regu- 



HISTORY 13 

late the trade was to have a license law. Such being 
now the case, the men who pay for the privilege of carry- 
ing on the business will see that only those who are 
legally authorised are permitted to do so. This will 
suppress the dangerous element known as " boot-leg " 
venders, who sell liquor by the pint or quart to the 
natives, and many such evils which formerly existed will 
by this means be effectually suppressed. 

In 1888, the Democrats of Alaska formed a party organ- 
isation and sent two delegates to the Democratic National 
Convention. These delegates were permitted to take 
their seats, and this was the first representation of the 
Territory by her citizens. 

In the fall of 1889 the Republicans organised and held 
a convention at Juneau, and adopted a memorial to be 
presented to members of Congress. The author of this 
book drafted the memorial, and was delegated to proceed 
to Washington and present it to both houses of Congress. 
He was also chosen a member of the National Republi- 
can Committee from Alaska.] 

The memorial referred to represented clearly the con- 
dition of affairs in the Territory, and is here given in full, 
as follows : 

To the Republican Members of the United States Senate and 
House of Representatives : 

We, the Republicans of Alaska in convention assembled, re- 
spectfully represent to your honourable body, that on this the 
fifth day of November, 1889, a day when the Republicans in 
the various States and Territories of the Union are contesting 
for the principles of our great party, we are denied that sacred 
privilege. 



14 ALASKA 

Among the great Territories of the west, we alone stand a 
monument representing complete and utter isolation and non- 
representation. With an area sufficient to form a dozen States, 
with resources unnumbered and unlimited, with no manner of 
expressing our just needs or to demand our just rights, with a 
population of upwards of ten thousand whites and fifty thou- 
sand natives, among whom are many intelligent and industri- 
ous, we come to you for relief. 

With no means of acquiring title to property in which our 
capital is invested and our labor is expended, we ask the 
passage of such laws as will afford us relief in this direction. 

With many of our people desirous of securing land upon 
which they can engage in farming, stock-raising, dairying, and 
other pursuits of husbandry, we ask that the homestead laws 
be extended in such manner as will open up this domain for 
that class of our citizens. 

With hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in the fish 
industry, we ask the passage of such laws as will secure titles 
to their property, and encourage the development of one of 
our greatest resources, and one which is fast becoming valu- 
able to the nation at large. 

With vast forests extending throughout the Territory, we ask 
that the present laws relative to the cutting of timber be so 
modified as to allow it to be used for domestic purposes, by the 
canneries in the packing and exportation of their fish, and by 
parties actually engaged in manufacturing enterprises within 
the Territory, and the exportation of furniture and other 
wooden-wares, etc., manufactured from our native timber. 

The judiciary of Alaska is anomalous, lying between and 
dependent upon the general laws of the United States and the 
general laws of the State of Oregon, and having no true basis 
from which it can be interpreted. Therefore we ask that a 
code of laws be enacted for the District of Alaska, suitable to 
our wants and circumstances and made applicable to our 
growing industries and communities. 

To-day Alaska stands alone among the great Territories of 
the west without a representative upon the floor of Congress, 
and we deem it unjust that a longer denial of the. rights 



HISTORY 15 

accorded other portions of our country should be imposed 
upon us. 

In presenting this memorial to your honourable body we 
humbly ask your unanimous aid in our behalf, and we will 
ever pray, etc. 

C. F. Depue, Chairman. 

C. S. Blackett, Secretary. 

The next Republican National Convention allowed 
Alaska the same representation as other Territories, and 
the Democratic National Convention followed with a like 
action. 

During the winter of 1889-90, General George W. Gar- 
side and the author laboured with both houses of Congress 
to secure the passage of such laws as were demanded by 
the memorial ; their efforts were so far successful that the 
House Committee on Territories unanimously adopted 
the bill which on the 3rd of March, 1890, became a law. 

While this bill did not by any means meet the needs 
of the Territory, it was thought best to urge its passage, 
because the situation resolved itself into a choice of this 
or nothing. 

Until the passage of the bill extending the homestead 
laws to Alaska on May 14, 1898, the only way by which 
title to land could be secured in Alaska, except under the 
general mining laws of the country, was under the act of 
March 3, 1890; by it individuals or companies may pur- 
chase land at $2. 50 per acre, for business or manufacturing 
purposes; and residents of towns may acquire title to 
their lots. 

\In the fall of 1890, the people's convention held in 
Juneau selected Captain James Carroll, the well-known 
master of the tourist steamer Queen, to proceed to Wash- 









\ 1 



1 6 ALASKA 



ington, for the purpose of securing legislation. It was 
largely through his efforts that the bill referred to became 
a law. 

It is worthy of mention, in connection with Captain 
Carroll's efforts in behalf of Alaska, that when he arrived 
in Washington he proposed, should Congress not be dis- 
posed to pass the laws needed for the protection of its 
citizens, that he was ready to purchase the Territory of 
the Government, and was also prepared to close the 
transaction for the sum of $20,000,000 at any time the 
Government would accept it. This proposition, so char- 
acteristic of the man, was looked upon by many in the 
light of a joke; yet it was meant seriously and had the 
effect of opening the eyes of many public men to the value 
of this vast new country. 

On May 14, 1898, Congress passed a bill extending the 
homestead laws to Alaska, and the rights incident thereto, 
including the right to acquire title, through soldiers' addi- 
tional homestead rights, to surveyed and unsurveyed 
lands, but the surveys must be made at the expense of 
the applicant. A 

Homesteads may be taken and held by a party making 
actual settlement and improvement, but cannot be en- 
tered or patented until the public surveys have been 
regularly extended over them. 

The limit of a homestead is fixed at eighty acres, and 
when taken on any navigable water it shall not include 
land lying between high- and low-water mark. Neither 
can a homestead exceed eighty rods along the shore of 
any navigable water, and sixty feet wide extending along 
the shore line shall be reserved as a public highway, and 



HISTORY 17 

this reservation shall be deducted from the eighty acres 
allowed as a homestead. 

Land districts have been established with offices at 
Sitka, Nulato, Circle City, and Peavy. 

Alaska has no legislature or officers elected by the 
people at large, but is treated as a District, similar, per- 
haps, to the District of Columbia, where Congress directly 
governs affairs. 

The passage of the Organic Act of 1884 brought into 
the Territory as Government officials many men from dif- 
ferent States of the Union, most of whom were men of 
character and ability. In their official capacities, they 
have had excellent opportunities to familiarise themselves 
with the vast richness of the Territory, and the close of 
their terms of office has seen most of them earnest 
defenders of its interest. 

Perhaps the most enthusiastic of its advocates is A. P. 
Swineford, who was appointed Governor of Alaska by 
President Cleveland during his first term of office. His 
warm espousal and radical views of the resources of the 
Territory attracted a great deal of attention to Alaska. 

He was charged with exaggeration and deceit in his 
statements of the resources and future possibilities of the 
country in his reports to the Government, but the de- 
velopments of the past few years have demonstrated that 
his pictures were not overdrawn. 

fin the fall of 1894 a people's convention was held at 
Juneau, and a memorial to Congress, similar to the one 
adopted by the convention of 1889, and which the author 
of this book also had the honour of drafting, was unanim- 
ously passed. 



1 8 ALASKA 

It was suggested by some of the delegates to select as 
representative to Congress Miss Kate Field, 1 whose cham- 
pionship of the Territory had been so marked that upon 
every opportunity offered she urged Congress to do its 
duty and relieve the inhabitants of their burden. That 
she thereby gained the admiration of Alaska's citizens is 
proved by this suggestion, but delicacy lest the action be 
regarded in the light of a burlesque, and the fact that no 
opportunity was allowed to ascertain if the honour would 
be accepted, finally caused the suggestion to be aban- 
doned, and Mr. Thomas S. Nowell was unanimously 
chosen delegate to Congress. 

Mr. Nowell's large mining interests in Alaska, and his 
extensive acquaintance among members of Congress and 
officials in Washington, placed him in excellent position 
to command respect and wield influence ; and but for the 
fact that the session was a short one, Alaska would in all 
probability have been recognised and Mr. Nowell seated 
as its first delegate. 

On March 3, 1899, Congress passed a law known as " A 
Code of Criminal Procedure," which provides for the 
punishment of crimes, and exacts a license of every indi- 
vidual or corporation carrying on business of whatsoever 
character within the District of Alaska. 

Only those who have had experience in the matter can 
realise the difficulty of securing legislation for Alaska. 
She labours under the exceptional disadvantage of having 
no one to whom she has a right to appeal for aid. 

The members of Congress from other States and Terri- 
tories have their own constituencies to look after; and 
the demands upon their time by legitimate claimants are 



HISTORY 19 

so many and so great that they can hardly be expected 
to labour for the interests of a country so remote and of 
which they know so little. 

The next few years must bring about great changes in 
the governmental affairs of Alaska. Even now several 
propositions are under consideration looking to the 
formation of new Territories. Should a separation ever 
occur, Southeast Alaska as far north as Sitka is peculiarly 
set apart by its natural construction for a new Territory. 
But in our opinion Alaska should always have been held 
as a reservation or public domain where enterprises un- 
fettered and untrammelled by taxation could have full 
sway. Among the residents there is a widespread feel- 
ing opposed to territorial organisation on account of 
a dread of taxes and the expense of maintaining a form 
of government. 

The area is so vast and the settlements are so widely 
separated that it is doubtful if a system of voting could 
be devised that would result in a fair expression of the 
voice of the people. The peculiar climatic conditions of 
the country, its remoteness from civilisation, and the 
transient character of the inhabitants are strong argu- 
ments against the organisation of the District of Alaska 
into Territories. 

But if a law were passed granting Alaska a delegate to 
Congress, appointed by the President for a term of four 
years, and with the same privileges accorded delegates 
from other Territories, all interests could be subserved 
without the enormous expenses attendant upon carrying 
on the machinery of territorial government. 

Such a provision would give Alaska a representative on 



20 ALASKA 

the floor of Congress who would be authorised to act for 
the Territory, and whose business it would be to secure 
needed legislation. He should be an actual resident, and 
there are many men within the Territory who would make 
creditable representatives, and whose knowledge of its 
requirements would be of inestimable value. 



CHAPTER II 

TOPOGRAPHY 

THE elements of grandeur, weirdness, solemnity, and 
vastness enter, in a large degree, into a topograph- 
ical description of Alaska. Its many interesting features 
hold the mind spellbound with awe in their presence and 
fill the memory with undying wonder. We behold them 
in the labyrinth of verdant islands that diversifies the 
coast line; the swelling plains of the interior; gigantic 
mountain peaks, snow-covered and hoary with age ; the 
mighty glaciers — vast rivers of ice which for centuries 
have slowly forged their way to the abyss of the ocean, 
and which, before many more centuries, will have entirely 
disappeared, so that future ages will know them only by 
the records of their awful sublimity ; the active volcanoes 
rearing their smoking, often fiery, crests among the 
mountain peaks; and the valleys, great and small, rich 
in natural resources of many kinds, which intersect the 
interior country in all directions. 

Alaska is naturally divided into two great divsions — 
South-east and Western Alaska. Mt. St. Elias marks the 
dividing line between Western Alaska and South-east 
Alaska, at 141 degrees west longitude, running north 
from this point to the Arctic Ocean. For a number of 

21 



22 ALASKA 

years it was supposed that Mt. St. Elias was within 
American territory, but late surveys show most of its 
base to be just over the line in the Canadian Dominion. 

Many of the islands in the inland, or tourist route, 
have the appearance of half-submerged mountains, and 
water two hundred fathoms deep is often found where 
the breadth of the channel can be almost spanned by the 
length of the ship. 

Fiords are numerous, some of them winding in serpent- 
ine fashion a distance of twenty or more miles into the 
islands or mainland. The great rivers of the interior 
drain immense valleys, with mountain ranges everywhere 
visible. Lakes are abundant, often surrounded by tundra, 
or swamps, very frequently impenetrable, covered with 
brush, rank grasses, and other vegetation. After the in- 
terior is reached — and by this is meant after the coast 
mountains are crossed, in many places only twenty or 
thirty miles from the coast — the soft earth and luxuriant 
vegetation of the coast country give place to frozen 
ground, and lichens and mosses on the mountain sides 
and in the valleys. But though the vast plains of the 
interior are completely within the grasp of the ice king 
for eight months of the year, with the advent of the long 
days of summer, water runs, flowers bloom, and grasses 
spring into life as if by magic, and their growth is at once 
luxuriant and rapid, even though in many places the soil 
is never thawed beyond a few inches below the surface. 

In the far north at Point Barrow and at St. Michaels, 
wells have been dug sixty feet through frozen ground, 
and the same condition exists on the Yukon and its 
tributaries. 



TOPOGRAPHY 2$ 

The Aleutian Islands, stretching far out into the North 
Pacific, surrounded by rocks scarred and battered for ages 
by the boisterous waves, are without trees, but they are 
thickly covered with a low growth of luxuriant vegeta- 
tion. Between the mountains and the sea are small 
plateaus or prairies, with soil enriched by vegetable 
mould and suitable for domestic gardening. Grass 
grows abundantly here, sometimes to a height of six feet. 
It is cured by the natives, to feed a few small Siberian 
cattle, and they also braid it into useful and often orna- 
mental articles, such as baskets, hats, and mats. The 
growth of this grass is so abundant and prolific that in- 
vestigators have predicted that this Aleutian country 
will yet furnish the Pacific coast with its best butter 
and cheese; while botanists agree that the southern 
coast country of Alaska abounds in grasses, and has a 
climate perhaps as well adapted for haying as the coast of 
Oregon. 

The Russians esteem Cook Inlet, which lies to the 
north of Kadiak, to be the pleasantest portion of Alaska 
in the summer season. Its skies are nearly always bright, 
as stretching far inland in a north-easterly direction it is 
out of the region of fogs, which so frequently prevail on 
the coast. Its shores are pleasant, being well wooded 
and watered. Gold has been found in large quantities, 
and recent reports tell of still richer placer deposits hav- 
ing been discovered on the inlet itself and on the Kakni 
River, which debouches into Cook Inlet. 

The guiding landmarks of Alaska may be said to be its 
grand mountains, volcanic peaks, and mammoth glaciers. 
Mt. St. Elias lifts its ermine top over 18,000 feet above 



24 ALASKA 

the level of the sea. In the distance it seems to have its 
base on the very shore of the ocean, although in reality 
sixty miles away. From the south side of Mt. St. Elias 
eleven glaciers slowly make their way oceanward, one of 
them, named Agassiz Glacier, being estimated to be 
twenty miles in width and fifty in length, covering an 
area of one thousand square miles. 

Mt. Fairweather, one hundred and fifty miles south 
of Mt. St. Elias, is about 15,500 feet high; Mt. Crillon, 
15,000; Mt. Perouse, 14,300; and Mt. Wrangell is over 
19,000. 

There are thirty or more volcanoes in Alaska, six or 
eight of which are in an active state of eruption. Shi- 
shaldin, which is 9000 feet high, is burning, and its smoke 
may always be seen in clear weather. It is situated 
on Unimak Island, near the pass of the same name 
usually followed by vessels in entering Bering Sea. 
Pavlof, about one hundred miles to the eastward, is 
another smoking mountain ; the glow from its crater may 
be seen reflected against the heavens. Mt. Makushin, at 
the eastern extremity of Unalaska Island, is about 5500 
feet in height, and gives evidence of being more or less 
active ; while the tops of Pogrumnoi and Shishaldin, on 
Unimak Island, serve as beacons at night or in foggy 
weather for vessels on their way into Bering Sea, as they 
can be seen distinctly, towering above the dense atmos- 
phere. Akutan Island has a smoking volcano, 4000 feet 
high; and on Atka Island there are several volcanoes, 
from 3000 to 4000 feet in height, which occasionally emit 
smoke. 

Eighty miles west of Unalaska, Mt. Bogoston is in 



MOUNT BOGOSTON VOLCANO. 



TOPOGRAPHY 25 

constant eruption. It is the most remarkable and pictur- 
esque volcano in all Alaska. 

Mt. Logan, the highest known mountain in North 
America, unless it may be Mt. Wrangell, has an elevation 
of 19,000 feet. Some surveyors claim that Wrangell is a 
loftier peak than Logan, but its exact height is unknown. 
Wrangell is clearly within Alaska, but Logan is a few 
miles east of the line in Canadian territory. 

One of the most interesting landmarks in all Alaska is 
what is known as Priest Rock. It stands seventy-five or 
eighty feet high in Bering Sea just to the west of Unalga 
Pass. Probably no landmark is sought with greater eager- 
ness by vessels navigating Alaskan waters than this re- 
markable structure of nature, standing out against the 
horizon with such clearness that the mariner never mis- 
takes his position when once it is sighted. It could not 
be better named, for its outlines perfectly resemble a 
priest whose arms are plainly seen beneath a rocky robe, 
outstretched as if in benediction. 

In Behm Canal on the eastern side of Alaska, standing 
almost in the middle of the channel, is another interesting 
work of nature. It is a rock rising to a height of over 
one hundred feet, having a base of about fifty feet square, 
gradually tapering towards the top. It was discovered 
by Vancouver, and named New Eddystone Rock after 
the rock near the south coast of England upon which 
stands the famous Eddystone lighthouse known to 
mariners the world over. 

Hot mineral springs abound all over the various island 
groups of Alaska, especially those stretching from the 
Alaskan peninsula westward towards Asia. About fif- 



26 ALASKA 

teen miles south of Sitka, hot springs are also found, 
which possess great curative properties. Consumption, 
scrofula, syphilitic diseases, and rheumatism are common 
among the aborigines, consumption being the most fatal; 
while scrofula prevails to a great extent, aggravated, it is 
believed, by an almost exclusive fish diet and by rank 
uncleanliness. Syphilitic diseases, the terrible heritage 
left these natives as the result of contact with sailors in 
the early days, and augmented by uncleanly habits, are 
likewise common. These diseases are said to yield 
readily to the treatment afforded by these natural health 
restorers, the hot springs, and it is claimed they can, to 
all appearances, be entirely eradicated from the system 
after a few weeks' bathing and drinking the waters 
of these springs. They all possess similar properties, 
being strongly impregnated with iron, sulphur, and mag- 
nesia. 

During the Russian occupancy bath-houses were built 
at Sitka springs, and bathing tanks constructed, and 
natives and whites from this portion of the territory 
frequently visited them. 

Hot springs are also found near Loring, and others at 
Hoonah, these being more patronised, because they are 
nearer the settled portion of the country. 

The aspect of the country about Bering Strait is mount- 
ainous, but not extremely precipitous. From Cape 
Prince of Wales, another continent, Asia, may be seen, 
for the Siberian coast is plainly visible. Citizens of the 
United States and the subjects of the Czar of all the Rus- 
sias, metaphorically speaking, might stand on their re- 
spective shores and clasp hands across the narrow channel 




PRIEST ROCK, ENTRANCE TO BERING SEA, NEAR UNALQA PASS. 



TOPOGRAPHY 2J 

called Bering Strait, which connects the waters of the 
Arctic Ocean with Bering Sea. 

This strait is but forty-eight miles wide, and the nar- 
row passage is partially filled by Little and Big Diomede 
Islands near the middle of the strait. The islands are 
only two miles apart, and the line of demarcation be- 
tween Alaska and Siberia runs midway between them. 
The shallow water of Bering Strait, averaging only about 
twenty-seven fathoms in depth, and the short distance 
between the two continents, give rise to interesting 
speculation concerning the connecting of the eastern and 
western hemispheres by a railroad which would, literally, 
girdle the world. Fancy leaving New York by special 
limited train, traversing the North American continent 
longitudinally to the great Yukon valley, then westward 
to Bering Strait, crossing it with the trans-Siberian Rail- 
way as a connection, and speeding on to St. Petersburg, 
Paris, London, etc. ; and this is within the realm of pos- 
sibility. Engineering skill has made rapid progress 
within a decade, and who shall say what the genius of 
man aided by wonderful inventions and electricity will 
accomplish ! 

It will be a physical impossibility to span Bering Strait 
with a bridge, owing to the swift current and the vast 
quantities of ice which, in winter, are continually flowing 
through, and which would speedily demolish such a 
structure. It may be possible, however, that the strait 
could be tunnelled, but it is here suggested — as more 
practicable — that it could be filled in with rock, allowing 
sufficient openings for the waters to flow through and for 
vessels to pass, thus forming an adamantine roadway be- 



28 ALASKA 

tween the extreme west and east, as represented by the 
United States and Siberia. 

The mountains that mark the westernmost point of the 
continent at Cape Prince of Wales are rocky and barren, 
the ledges standing upon high pillars, with shattered 
sides and uneven surfaces. Towards the base, facing 
Bering Strait, the slope is gradual, extending into a low, 
sandy beach reaching out into the strait a mile or more 
and then bearing to the north. Endless quantities of 
rock could be taken from these mountains of solid stone 
and dumped into the strait, until a roadway would rise 
from the bottom of the shallow waters. The expense, it 
is true, would be enormous — and no attempt is here 
made to discuss scientific difficulties in the way — but let 
it be remembered that all great engineering projects have 
been first ridiculed and denounced as chimerical, as, wit- 
ness — the Suez Canal, Nicaragua Canal, the Panama 
Canal, and other great triumphs of engineering skill. To 
carry so gigantic an enterprise to a successful completion, 
unlimited capital and labour would be required. In the 
matter of labour, if white men could not be found, 
twenty-five thousand Eskimos from Alaska and Siberia, 
who are indefatigable workers, could be utilised. And 
should the enterprise be undertaken jointly by the Gov- 
ernments of the United States and Russia, the latter 
would, no doubt, make use of her convicts, as she is now 
doing in the construction of the trans-Siberian Railroad. 

An all-rail route from the new world to the old, across 
Bering Strait, would be the connecting link to weld the 
nations together in the development of commerce and of 
the untold riches of little-known portions of the two vast 



TOPOGRAPHY 2$ 

continents. That this would be a mammoth undertaking 
is not denied, but its possibility cannot be questioned. 
It is not all fanciful — " the unsubstantial pageant of a 
dream " — but is rather the living, actual reality, that 
before another quarter of a century has rolled away a 
great international highway will be opened up and the 
nations of the world will become its patrons. 

The dangers and difficulties that formerly beset the 
miner in his efforts to reach the gold diggings of the in- 
terior from Lynn Canal to the headwaters of the Yukon 
have been overcome in the past few months by the build- 
ing of a railroad from Skaguay, called the Skaguay and 
White Pass Railway. 

The extension of this railroad along the valley of the 
Yukon, as contemplated by its projectors, is a question 
that the future will have to determine. There is no 
doubt that the natural obstacles of the interior can be 
overcome if the commercial importance will justify the 
expense that would be incurred. 

Another interesting feature of railroad building in 
Alaska is the organisation of a company for the purpose 
of constructing a railroad from a point about sixty miles 
north of St. Michaels to the Yukon River, at the mouth 
of what is known as Kaltag River. 

The survey runs from the mouth of the Unalaklik 
River, following this stream along the south bank, and 
crossing a short divide to the Kaltag River, which stream 
it follows to the Yukon. The distance from the initial 
point to its proposed terminus is only eighty miles, and 
it has an easy and natural grade the entire distance. The 
route follows the trail used by the Yukon River Indians 



30 ALASKA 

for many years in making the overland journey to the 
coast of Bering Sea, and by reference to the map it will 
be seen that this route saves over five hundred miles of 
river travel. 

The Yukon River at its mouth is very shallow, and the 
navigation of this stream for the first four or five hundred 
miles is attended with great difficulties on account of its 
uncertain channel. As all Yukon River boats start from 
St. Michaels, eighty-five miles of ocean travel must be 
made from this point to the mouth of the river. There 
are no mines or important business points from the mouth 
of the river to Nulato, and if this long portion of the trip 
could be dispensed with, it would be a great saving of 
expense. 

The building of this railroad would mean the saving of 
six or eight days of travel to the Klondike after leaving 
the steamer on the Bering Sea side, and undoubtedly 
cheapen the cost of supplies at the mining camps, which 
is a matter of great importance. 

Alaska offers many inducements for railroad building. 
The physical contour of the country, especially in the 
interior, presents few obstacles, and the numerous valleys 
afford natural avenues for the construction of these great 
highways. The many tributaries of the Yukon will yet 
hear the snorting of the iron horse, and the vast coal 
fields, mountains of silver and iron ore, as well as many 
other natural resources of this country, will be opened 
up by the enterprise of the twentieth century. The in- 
domitable energy and power of man will yet lay this vast 
country under tribute and cause it to yield a golden 
harvest. 



TOPOGRAPHY 3 1 

Alaska is the only frontier left in our great country to- 
day. Though in time it may contain many thousand 
people, yet it will never, on account of its climatic con- 
ditions, maintain a large permanent population. Towns 
and villages may spring up, but not one of them will 
develop into a metropolis of any considerable size, for its 
inhabitants will always be transient. It is a conspicuous 
fact that every man, woman, or child who goes to Alaska 
looks anxiously forward to the time when he can return 
to civilisation. 



CHAPTER III 

CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE 

THE beneficent Japan current influences the whole 
country, even as far north as the Kuskoquim River, 
and has the effect of soothing the climate of the North 
Bering seacoast. 

Precipitation is very great in the southern coast country. 
The air is cool during the pleasantest time of the year, in 
the long summer days when the sun shines most. As a 
rule, it is clear but few days in the year; usually, how- 
ever, in June and July the sun pierces the deep and 
heavy clouds that settle over the mountains, and brightens 
up the landscape. When the sun is obscured, it is liable 
to rain for days, and sometimes for two or three weeks 
at a time. But rains here are not so chilly as in most 
countries where cloudy or rainy weather prevails for 
long periods, but, as a rule, are warm. 

The average rainfall along the coast is not far short of 
one hundred inches a year, and at Unalaska, in 1884, one 
hundred and fifty-five inches was recorded. 

The fall of snow in the coast country is also consider- 
able. At times it covers the earth to a depth of three 
feet on a level, but is usually damp, and a snow-storm is 
apt to turn into rain in a few hours, causing the huge 

32 



CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE 33 

banks and drifts to disappear. The mercury rarely falls to 
zero in any part of the southern coast country ; it is more 
likely to register above freezing point than below during 
the greater part of the winter. 

The climate is much drier in the interior, rain occurring, 
as a rule, only in the spring and summer. Severe showers 
are sometimes accompanied by fierce thunder and light- 
ning, which rarely is known on the coast. 

No other section of this continent presents such a di- 
versity of climate as Alaska. The heat of the summer in 
the interior is sometimes intense, often registering over 
one hundred degrees in the shade, and it has been known 
to burst a spirit thermometer after graduating up to one 
hundred and twenty. Summer heat, however, is quickly 
followed by winter cold, and the mercury will fall to fifty 
or sixty degrees below zero. On one occasion, at Fort 
Yukon, it is known to have reached seventy degrees 
below zero. The winter begins about the first of Octo- 
ber and lasts until the first of June. The mean temper- 
ature during the months of December, January, and 
February is about twenty-four degrees below zero. This 
cold weather and long period of winter extends to within 
a few miles of the coast. 

Notwithstanding the marked variations in the climate, 
Alaska is essentially a healthy country. The only pre- 
vailing diseases are those of a bronchial nature, and in 
most cases these troubles can be directly traced to im- 
prudent exposure. 

The snow of the interior partakes much of the charac- 
ter of frost, sifting slowly down in intensely cold weather 
until it lies several inches deep, light and fluffy; but at 



34 ALASKA 

times, in warm weather, it thaws and settles into a hard 
crust, affording excellent surface for sledding. 

The great precipitation and humidity of the atmosphere 
in Southern Alaska cause the entire coast region to be 
clothed in a mantle of perennial green. Vegetation is 
dense, and the forests magnificent. The soil is rich, 
though in the heavily timbered section it is shallow; and 
from the most eastern point of the Territory to Kadiak, 
root crops are easily grown. Radishes, lettuces, carrots, 
onions, cauliflower, peas, turnips, cabbage, beets, celery, 
and potatoes yield prolifically. On one-sixth of an acre at 
Sitka, eighty bushels of potatoes have been raised. It 
was, however, a plot of ground that had been formerly 
used by the Russians as a garden and was carefully pre- 
pared. Strawberries grow with the greatest spontaneity, 
and have a flavour equal to those of southern latitudes. 
Some extensive fields of strawberries are found under the 
very shadow of the glaciers, both at Glacier Bay and at 
Yakutat. Potatoes are grown in most of the native vil- 
lages along the coast country. No system of planting is 
followed, the rule being simply to bury a whole potato in 
the ground and when the vines appear above the surface 
thin out if necessary; dirt is then heaped in a soft hill 
with but little of the care given this crop by practical 
farmers. The potatoes grown here have an excellent 
flavour, but are inclined to be watery. The cultivation 
of the soil by the natives is of the most primitive char- 
acter, and that by the whites is carelessly done. 

Oats, barley, and wheat have been grown on the Stikeen 
River, where the climate is colder and dryer. The pre- 
cipitation on the coast is so great that it is doubtful if 



CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE 35 

cereals could mature, except in a dry season. They grow 
very rapidly, and before they can mature are cut down 
by frosts or mould through dampness. Silos and ensilage 
would undoubtedly be a success here. Cattle prefer the 
hay of the country to that imported, and if the two are 
fed to them mixed, they will separate the native hay and 
eat it first. 

As soon as the snow has disappeared in the spring, 
masses of herbage spring into life, and quickly blossom. 
Fruits rapidly mature and harvest closely follows seed- 
time. It is a surprising fact that not only on the coast, 
but also in the interior, small fruits, especially raspber- 
ries, blueberries, cranberries, and red currants everywhere 
abound. When the sun shines continually for twenty- 
four hours vegetable life is extremely rapid, notwith- 
standing the shortness of the season. 

The capability of the soil of Alaska under a proper 
system of cultivation, both on the coast and in the in- 
terior, has not yet been fully demonstrated. It is hoped 
that agricultural experimental stations will be established 
by the Government in the different parts of the Territory, 
say — one at Chilkat, one at Kadiak, one at Sitka, and 
one in the interior. If this is done, intelligent and prac- 
tical experiments with the various grains, roots, and 
grasses suitable to these latitudes can be made. In the 
spring of 1894, the author had the honour of appearing 
before the House Committee on Agriculture in support 
of establishing stations as above; a bill appropriating 
$15,000 for the purpose was unanimously reported, but 
it met with the usual fate of Alaskan measures — was 
never reached on the calendar. 



36 ALASKA 

In 1897, however, Congress appropriated $5000, and in 
1898, $10,000 for the purpose of carrying on investiga- 
tions to demonstrate the agricultural possibilities of 
Alaska. The results were so encouraging that on Jan- 
uary 13, 1899, the Secretary of Agriculture transmitted a 
report to Congress in which he says : 

The investigations have, in my judgment, shown the desir- 
ability and feasibility of establishing agricultural experimental 
stations in Alaska, and I therefore recommend that definite 
provision be made by Congress for the maintenance of such 
stations in that Territory on a permanent basis, as is done 
elsewhere in the United States. 

The illustration showing the results of experiments 
made in 1898 at Sitka, demonstrates that the conditions 
in the southern coast country are favourable for certain 
kinds of crops, and the same results will doubtless be 
obtained in the interior when investigation extends to 
that region. 

Stock raising in Alaska, also, must first be investigated. 
Along the coast the chilly air of fall and winter is very 
trying, and cold rains, snow, sleet, and severe winds are 
all encountered. Experiments heretofore made have not 
proved entirely satisfactory. Foot-rot in sheep has in- 
terfered with this industry to some extent, but experi- 
enced stockmen, familiar with the interior of the Territory, 
are confident that it presents excellent opportunities for 
the successful raising of cattle; and believe it is possible 
that the great interior may, within a very few years, be- 
come a feeding-ground for tens of thousands of sheep 
and cattle. 




OATS, BARLEY, FLAX, POTATOES, GRASSES, AND CLOVER GROWN BY THE 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AT SITKA, 1898. 



CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE 37 

The tundra moss-covered regions, suitable for reindeer 
grazing, prevail throughout the whole western coast 
country, and, in the interior, for many miles, nutritious 
grass and moss are everywhere found in abundance. 



CHAPTER IV 

MINERAL AND TIMBER 

THE first discovery of gold in South-east Alaska was 
near Sitka, in the year 1873. It excited much in- 
terest in the small settlements throughout the south- 
eastern coast, and prospecting soon commenced in earnest. 
Miners from the old Cassiar region in British Columbia, 
and North-west Territory, began to push forward into 
Alaska, and, in the summer of 1880, gold was discovered 
in the vicinity of Juneau. From this date may be reck- 
oned the developments that have reached such large pro- 
portions and drawn the attention of the whole mining 
interests in America to our Alaska possessions. 

The little Indian settlement at the head of Gastineau 
Channel, which had rarely seen a white man, was soon 
enlivened by the tents and rude huts of the miners, 
which were scattered along the coast for many miles; 
and back into the interior went prospectors, singly, and 
in parties of three or more, in search of gold, as very 
strong indications led them to believe it lay somewhere 
in this vicinity. 

Joseph Juneau was the first man to demonstrate the 
existence of gold in this district in any considerable 
quantities. During the early days of the settlement 

38 




THE TREADWELL LEDGE. 



MINERAL AND TIMBER 39 

there seemed a disposition to bestow honour upon one 
Richard Harris, a partner of Juneau, by naming the first 
mining town after him. So the town was first called 
Harrisburg, subsequently named Rockwell, in honour 
of one of the officers of the United States steamer James- 
town, then located at Sitka; but the inhabitants finally 
determined to give it the name Juneau, which it now 
bears. 

About the time of the first gold excitement at Juneau, 
the report was circulated that gold had been found on 
the top of a mountain about two miles across the bay, 
and it was learned that a miner, known in camp by the 
name of " French Pete," had staked off a claim. Mr. 
John Treadwell was at this time prospecting in the region, 
and investigated this location ; being convinced that it 
would prove good property, he purchased it for the sum 
of $400. By untiring energy and persistent efforts he 
developed the property, forging his way almost inch by 
inch. He erected first a five-stamp mill. The result was 
so promising that he found little trouble in organising a 
company with capital sufficient to erect a one-hundred- 
and-twenty-stamp mill, which, seven years after the first 
discovery, was enlarged to two hundred and forty stamps, 
and the largest mill in the world was soon pounding out 
gold. For the past ten years there has hardly been a 
break in the rattle of the machinery or the booming of 
the heavy charges of dynamite, as they are echoed and 
re-echoed over the channel to the town of Juneau. Day 
and night during this whole period, with the exception 
of the Fourth of July and Christmas, it has never been 
known to stop. In calling this the greatest mill in the 



40 ALASKA 

world, we mean that it is fully equipped in every depart- 
ment pertaining to a well regulated and efficient working 
property; and although the ore is known as very low 
grade, estimated as yielding only $1.85 in bullion to the 
ton of ore, the gold output from this mine since the full 
two hundred and forty stamps have been in operation 
has reached the sum of $70,000 or $80,000 per month. 

While the discovery of this rich ledge awakened a 
widespread interest in Alaska, it was also the means of 
effecting the organisation of a company which perpetrated 
a swindle aggregating several hundred thousand dollars. 
A claim adjoining the great Treadwell mine, and repre- 
sented to be fully as promising, was located, after a sup- 
posed thorough and careful system of prospecting. 
German and English capitalists were induced to take 
hold of it; tunnels were run, machinery erected, and 
everything made ready to start the operation of a huge 
plant, when it was discovered that the claim had been 
" salted." Work stopped at once, and the mining world 
was startled by the announcement that the Bear's Nest 
mine in Alaska was a gigantic swindle. This threw cold 
water upon the mining development of Alaska for a 
period of three or four years, and no matter how promis- 
ing a claim, it could not be negotiated at any price. 
Capitalists looking for investments were afraid to venture 
into Alaska. The rumour, too, became current that the 
Treadwell mine was a mere ' ' blow-out, ' ' or pocket, where, 
by a singular freak of nature, a lot of gold had been 
dumped in one huge pile, and that it would never be 
found in paying quantities anywhere else in the country. 

During this time, however, a number of men who had 



~i 



l^:-! 



MINERAL AND TIMBER 4 1 

followed mining camps from the earliest days of Cali- 
fornia up through Oregon, into the Cariboo and Cassiar 
regions of British Columbia, finally drifted into Alaska, 
and believed they were yet within the mineral belt. 
Every dollar they could command was expended in the 
development of mining claims that were staked out in 
many places along the coast of South-eastern Alaska, and 
the result of their work has shown that their confidence 
was not misplaced. Without entering into a detailed or 
tedious enumeration of the different camps or claims 
which have been prospected successfully, it is sufficient 
to say that all through the South-eastern Alaska coast to 
the end of the inland channel or tourist route, at the very 
gates of the Pacific Ocean, wherein lies Alaska's capital, 
rich deposits of gold, silver, and galena ore are found. 
To the energy and steadfast belief of a few of the old 
settlers in Sitka is due in no small degree the credit of 
establishing the fact that the gold belt of California and 
the Western Territories was not riven asunder when it 
reached the coast range ; and when the mountains that 
tower behind the capital at Sitka are made to yield up 
the ore that lies buried in their innermost recesses, we 
believe it will prove to be as rich as any yet discovered 
in this country. 

In several places on Prince of Wales Island, and north 
on Annette Island, a number of excellent locations have 
been found where free gold is scattered among the rocks. 
Within the past few months prospectors have located 
claims, the assays of which indicate large and rich de- 
posits of gold. The prospectors for silver, four or five 
years ago, met with good success, but on account of the 



42 ALASKA 

depreciation in value of this metal the search for it has 
been almost entirely abandoned. 

Passing north to a point sixty miles south-east of 
Juneau, at Sum-Dum, is located the Bald Eagle mining 
claim. Before it was thoroughly prospected it was sold 
for many thousands of dollars. It is thought by many 
to contain the richest ore of any mine in Alaska, and will 
assay nearly one hundred dollars per ton. A ten-stamp 
mill has been in constant operation here for the past 
three years. Sum-Dum Chief and several other locations 
are very promising. 

Northward, within four miles of Juneau, at Sheep 
Creek, the Silver Queen mine is located, and a thirty- 
stamp mill is in operation. The ore is largely impreg- 
nated with silver, yet yields from $16 to $20 per ton in 
gold. Other claims here show excellent prospects, and 
this will undoubtedly before long be the seat of active 
and extended operations. 

Within a radius of four miles of Juneau, besides the 
great Treadwell mine, there are eight mills in operation. 

Gold Creek, which comes down through the mountains 
north of Juneau, and flows into the bay in a rushing tor- 
rent of water, drains about four miles of country, and 
upon both sides the rugged mountains seem to be inter- 
woven by rich ledges of gold quartz. Six stamp mills 
are constantly at work eight months of the year, and the 
coming season will see the beginning of development by 
the erection of mills on several other claims. Placer 
claims have been successfully operated there for a num- 
ber of years; and at what is known as the " basin," many 
thousands of dollars have been spent in getting ready to 



MINERAL AND TIMBER 43 

operate what is the most extensive hydraulic mine in 
Alaska. 

Across the bay adjoining the great Treadwell mine, at 
what is known as the Mexican mine, a one-hundred-and- 
twenty-stamp mill is in operation. To the east of that 
is the Ready Bullion, with a two-hundred-stamp mill; 
these two claims are owned or controlled by the company 
that owns the Treadwell mine. 

Towards Lynn Canal, sixty miles from Juneau, the 
Berner's Bay mining property shows indications that the 
richness and quantity of this ore will prove as great as 
any yet found. The forty-stamp mill here is in operation 
most of the year. On Admiralty Island, at Funta Bay, 
also, is a group of what will probably prove one of the 
richest mining camps in the whole of South-east Alaska. 
A number of ledges are found that contain rich ore and 
rock, which, when pounded out from any of these ledges, 
yield in every instance exceptionally rich deposits of gold 
in the bottom of the pan. 

At Glacier Bay there are many strong indications of 
silver, the veins being easily traced along the sides of the 
mountains, which are entirely nude of vegetation. On 
Willoughby Island, in particular, there are rich galena 
deposits, and up to the time of the depreciation of silver 
extensive preparations were made to develop several of 
these properties. At the extreme end of Glacier Bay are 
very rich deposits, in which native silver has been found 
among galena. The owners are carefully doing their 
assessment work each year and waiting for silver to 
appreciate so as to resume operations. 

Passing outside of the waters of the inland canal into 



44 ALASKA 

the North Pacific, rich mineral indications are found 
along the coast at Lituya Bay. Rich deposits of ruby 
and black sand stretch along the coast for many miles 
towards Yakutat. The quality of the gold found in this 
region is fine, but amalgamates readily, and is easily 
saved by careful sluicing. Although there has been con- 
siderable work in this region at placer mining during the 
past four or five years, there is quite an extensive range 
of country yet unworked, or, for that matter, unpro- 
spected. Practical miners who have investigated this 
portion of the coast believe that a rich and extensive 
mining section will here be opened up. 

Speculation as to the probability of the Copper River 
country being within the gold district of Alaska has for a 
number of years been more or less rife among those who 
have been attracted to Alaska. But as yet nothing more 
substantial than vague reports of rich finds have ma- 
terialised. The belief that the Copper River Indians 
would not permit prospectors to enter this territory has 
doubtless tended to keep this region in the background, 
but the past season witnessed a large influx of prospect- 
ors to that region, and before the close of the present 
year good reports may be expected. 

From the reports of Schwatka and others who pro- 
spected this stream some years ago, there seems to be little 
doubt that gold exists here in considerable quantities, 
and it seems fair to presume that a region surrounded in 
all directions, as Copper River is, by gold-producing 
country, must also yield its share of the yellow dust. 

Copper River is navigable but a few miles above its 
mouth for small boats only. One of the most extensive 



MINERAL AND TIMBER 45 

glaciers in Alaska is encountered sixty miles above its 
mouth, and a few miles farther on is a canyon over 
twenty miles long, whose grandeur rivals the Grand Can- 
yon of the Colorado. The water plunges through in 
frightful torrents as it thunders down to the sea. 

An indication that the lower end of Copper River is 
not a practicable route for small boats is the fact that the 
upper-river natives do most of their trading either at 
stores on Valdez Inlet, an arm of Prince William Sound, 
or at Knik or Sushitna Rivers, emptying into Cook Inlet. 

The early Russian settlers are known to have worked 
at placer mining at Cook Inlet, but with indifferent suc- 
cess. The summer of 1895 found some two hundred 
prospectors there. They were operating mostly on the 
main streams and branches of Six-Mile and Resurrection 
Creek which empty into Turnagain Arm, a branch of 
the inlet. Gold in paying quantities was soon found in 
several places, and the valleys were immediately staked 
out. Some of the claims proved to be very rich. That 
of the Polly Mining Company was believed at the time 
to be capable of yielding one hundred dollars per day for 
each man employed. 

In the spring of 1896 a rush to this region began with 
great vigour. Every sailing schooner and several un- 
seaworthy steamers were pressed into service to convey 
the Argonauts to the new Eldorado. About fifteen hun- 
dred men succeeded in reaching Sunrise City, located at 
the mouth of Six-Mile Creek. The men scattered out, 
some to obtain work, and others in large groups traversed 
the shores of Six-Mile, Mills, Link, Resurrection, Glacier, 
and other creeks, but found all available ground staked 



46 . ALASKA 

off. Most of the men being inexperienced in prospecting 
returned in disgust to Sunrise City and on to their homes 
at the first opportunity. About three hundred remained 
over the winter, and these made good wages. The dig- 
gings yielded about four dollars to six dollars per day per 
man as a general average. A number of miners have 
been known to return with $3000 to $4000, and a few 
with $15,000 to $20,000. 

The advantage of mining in this locality is that the 
cost of living is not so high as at the interior camps of 
Alaska. The Cook Inlet country will probably be heard 
of most hereafter as the scene of hydraulic operations, 
some very extensive plants being in the course of erec- 
tion, and as many as 8000 acres of hydraulic placer ground 
are held by a single corporation. 

For the past four or five years prospecting has been 
carried on at Unga, on the island of that name, and the 
work has been thorough and extensive. A ten-stamp 
mill was first erected, and two years ago the capacity 
increased to forty stamps, and the Alaska Commercial 
Company, which owns the property, feels satisfied that it 
has a mine which it will take many years to exhaust, and 
that it will prove a paying investment. This section of 
Alaska has every indication of rich mineral deposits, but 
when it is considered that the white settlements are very 
scarce, the means of communication with the outside 
world uncertain, and the cost of provisions and supplies 
very great, it is no wonder that so little has been 
done and so little known of the resources of this vast 
country. 

Some fourteen years ago, on a branch of Fish River 



MINERAL AND TIMBER 47 

which empties into Golofnin Bay, Norton Sound, indica- 
tions of rich silver deposits were found. The discoverer 
returned to San Francisco with a few samples of the ore, 
the assay of which proved to be very rich. A schooner 
was fitted out and sent there the following season, and in 
due time was loaded down with the ore; but soon after 
leaving the bay a severe storm was encountered, and when 
last seen by the natives on shore she was labouring in a 
heavy sea, and nothing more was ever heard of her. Sub- 
sequently another vessel was fitted out and considerable 
ore was taken to San Francisco, which proved so rich that 
a company was organised, and in 1891-92 $60,000 was 
expended on the mine. Another large quantity of ore 
was shipped to San Francisco, which proved to be as rich 
as any heretofore taken from this mine, but on account 
of difficulty among the members of the company work on 
the property was abandoned. It is understood, however, 
that the quality and quantity of ore found here are suffic- 
ient to pay a handsome profit for its shipment to San 
Francisco, even at the present price of this metal. It is 
expected that operations will be resumed at this mine the 
coming season. 

The country about Golofnin Bay, although known for 
several years to contain silver and galena deposits, was 
not, until the spring of 1898, supposed to contain placer 
gold diggings. In the fall of 1897, four men from San 
Francisco, equipped with a year's supply of provisions, 
arrived there, and went up the Neukluk River, a branch 
of Fish River, about sixty-five miles from Golofnin Bay. 
They commenced prospecting in the early spring, and 
found, on what they named Ophir Creek, rich deposits of 



48 ALASKA 

placer gold. On a stream four miles distant, which was 
named Melsing Creek after one of the party, rich dig- 
gings were also found. 

On account of high water, they were not able to reach 
bedrock during the past summer, but from the loose sur- 
face gravel over a dollar in gold was taken out in many 
places from a single pan of dirt. 

They continued their prospecting during the season, 
following the river to its source, and many creeks were 
found as rich as the two referred to above. 

The news of this discovery quickly spread to St. 
Michaels, and by the first of September, 1898, forty or 
fifty men had arrived at this camp. 

Among the number of companies that were organised 
in Chicago for the purpose of engaging in mining in 
Alaska, in the spring of 1898, was one known as the 
Dusty Diamond Company. Fifty members comprised 
the company, and fifty thousand dollars was invested in 
a river boat, dredging and mining machinery, and sup- 
plies; thus equipped, they started for some point to be 
determined in the future. When about to leave St. 
Michaels during August last, reports were rife of rich 
strikes on the Neukluk River. At once they changed 
their course and started for the new diggings. 

A committee of two members of this company was 
sent ahead in a small boat, the others to follow with sup- 
plies. The author, who had heard through Eskimos one 
hundred and fifty miles farther north that white men 
" had found money in the ground," started at once for 
this camp, reaching there about the same time as the 
representatives of the company. 




JKLUK RIVER GOLD-FIELDS. 




G0L0FN1N BAY AND NEUKLUK RIVER GOLD-FIELDS. 



MINERAL AND TIMBER 49 

One of the claims on Ophir Creek owned by the four 
men who discovered gold in this country was prospected 
by us jointly, and as high as $1.20 to the pan was found 
in the bed of the creek. Negotiations were effected by 
the company to work this claim on shares, and work was 
immediately started to turn the channel of the creek, and 
in less than two months $48,000 is said to have been 
taken from this claim. 

Mining in this country, as in the Klondike, will have 
to be done principally in the winter on account of the 
quantity of water that stands in the depressions among 
the tundra, and the many streams which are everywhere 
found, making it impossible to reach bedrock except 
when the ground is frozen. The burning process will be 
resorted to and the pay dirt brought to the surface and 
sluiced after the frost is out in the spring. 

The country drained by the Neukiuk River is, from its 
general appearance and what is already known of its min- 
eral deposits, one of the most promising camps yet found 
in Alaska. It is an ideal mining country, too, for it can 
be reached as quickly from civilisation as St. Michaels, 
and in summer is a veritable garden. Vegetation is 
everywhere prolific, flowers of many varieties and tints 
are found among the Arctic moss, grasses of different 
varieties abound among the alder and willow bushes, and 
cranberries, salmon berries, and huckleberries of rare 
flavour grow spontaneously among the tundra scattered 
over these Arctic plains. Here and there along the 
banks of the Neukiuk and many of its tributaries, groves 
of spruce and hemlock afford abundant material for fuel, 
and salmon abound in the streams in vast quantities. 



50 ALASKA 

Lieutenant Stoney, who was sent by the Government 
some years ago to explore the region of Kotzebue Sound, 
spent two or three years there, and found gold along the 
Selawik and Buckland Rivers. 

In the summer of 1895, two miners from the Yukon 
made their way to the Koyukuk River, following down 
this stream to the headwaters of the Selawik River which 
they prospected to its mouth. It was late in the season 
when they reached the Selawik and their investigations 
were hurriedly made. They found fine gold in every 
instance. 

In the summer of 1896, the author obtained coarse 
gold to the amount of $22 from two different Eskimos 
near the mouth of the Selawik River, which they found 
on that stream. In the summer of 1897, Eskimos 
brought to the coast samples of quartz showing free 
gold, and Captain Coghlan, of the steam whaling ship 
Thrasher, reported that Eskimos came aboard his vessel 
shortly after, bringing gold from the same region. 

The report brought to San Francisco by Captain 
Coghlan gave rise during the past year to widespread 
interest in that section of Alaska, and several expeditions 
reached Kotzebue Sound about the middle of July, and 
over six hundred men started up the Kowak and Selawik 
Rivers. The season was anything but favourable for 
prospecting, high water delaying their progress up the 
streams, and many, becoming discouraged and disheart- 
ened, returned to their homes with nothing but their 
experience. The few that remained had barely time to 
reach the upper-river region before winter set in, and no 
reliable reports can be expected from this section until 



MINERAL AND TIMBER 5 1 

the coming summer. There is no doubt that gold exists 
as far north as the headwaters of these two streams, but 
it remains for the future to determine to what extent. 

In almost every mining district of Alaska, black sand 
is found in greater or less quantities, and this is particu- 
larly true of the interior. Black sand is generally con- 
sidered a sign of good diggings, but in many instances it 
is found in such quantities as to interfere with sluicing. 
On account of its great specific gravity, it settles among 
the riffles of the sluice-box, and when the clean-up is 
made it is very hard to separate it from the gold, even 
with careful panning. 

The tailings on many claims contain large quantities of 
black sand, and not until recently was it supposed to 
have any value. 

News comes from Dawson, under date of December 5, 
1898, that a metallurgist of national prominence made a 
careful assay of some black sand taken from a sluice-box 
where it had settled among the riffles, and it was found 
to contain a large per cent, of platinum. In one ton of 
the black sand there were ninety-six ounces of platinum, 
which at a value of $8 per ounce gave the supposed black 
sand a value of $768. To secure the ton of black sand, 
however, one thousand tons of gravel had to be washed, 
but as this could be done at the expense of a few cents a 
yard, mining for platinum could be carried on at a great 
profit without considering the value of the gold found in 
the gravel, which in the sample ton in the above assay 
yielded $102 to the ton. 

If this report is reliable, and it seems to be, for Consul 
McCook stationed at Dawson reported the result as above 



52 ALASKA 

to the Government at Washington, locations heretofore 
abandoned on account of excessive deposits of black sand 
may be reopened and yield handsome dividends. 

South-eastern Alaska is well timbered, the prevailing 
varieties being spruce and hemlock, red and yellow cedar. 
The spruce and hemlock found here are usually of large 
size, often a hundred feet high and six and eight feet in 
diameter. The yellow cedar is a beautiful wood, suscep- 
tible of high polish, and is especially adapted for manu- 
facture of furniture. The yellow cedar grows many feet 
in height, straight and clear, without any defect whatso- 
ever. The wood, when polished, presents a beautiful 
yellowish hue, and is hard and compact though easily 
worked. Little is known of the extent of the yellow 
cedar, but no doubt explorations will discover consider- 
able areas of this valuable wood. From Sitka westward 
the forests become scrubby and the timber small in size, 
and entirely disappear twenty miles west of there, but 
alder and willow are found in many places. The timber 
line extends to a height of about fifteen hundred feet. 
The timber along the lower portion of the Yukon is 
composed principally of willow, alder, and cottonwood. 
Towards Norton Sound it grows to a fair size. Spruce 
is also found, as a rule, on most streams emptying into 
the Yukon River and Bering Sea. The rivers entering 
the Arctic as far as sixty-seven degrees north latitude are 
more or less timbered with the same variety. Along 
Wood River there are some fine groves of large spruce 
timber, and back in the interior and along the banks of 
the rivers and on level stretches of country fir timber is 
also found to considerable extent. Dwarf spruce, cotton- 



MINERAL AND TIMBER 53 

wood, alder, and willow are also found in the Nushagak 
and Kuskoquim regions. The willow usually found 
along the coast west of Mt. St. Elias is scrubby, but in 
the moraines of that mountain and along the delta of the 
Copper River it grows to a height of fifteen or twenty 
feet. In the vicinity of the Noatuk River, in sixty-seven 
degrees north latitude, spruce, birch, and cottonwood are 
found of a stunted growth, fit only for firewood and the 
construction of log houses. 

In the Yukon country, from Five Fingers all the way 
to Koserefski Mission, on the Yukon, the timber growing 
along the banks is principally willow, alder, and spruce, 
the latter being the prevailing variety. It is generally 
scrubby, but many good-sized trees are found. The 
islands in the river from Five Fingers to the mouth of 
the Yukon are generally well timbered, the larger islands 
being better wooded than the mainland. 

The coal resources of Alaska are lying dormant because 
the time does not seem to have arrived for the necessity 
of the opening up of the mines. A number of small 
veins or seams have been found on several of the islands 
in the south-eastern Alaskan country. Those which 
perhaps so far have attracted the most attention are on 
Chicagoff Island near Killisnoo, where every indication 
promises an extensive deposit. All the coal found in 
Alaska is bituminous and of a very good quality. De- 
posits have been found on the headwaters of the Chilkat 
River, Lituya Bay, Cook Inlet, Unga Island, and Port 
Mollar. The most extensive coal fields or deposits are 
in the Cook Inlet country, cropping out on the beaches 
and along many of the streams. Unga Island has three 



54 ALASKA 

distinct veins of coal extending a distance of two miles 
upon the sides of the mountains, each of them being 
several feet thick. Some work has been done here within 
the last few years and Government vessels have experi- 
mented with the coal, but find it contains a considerable 
amount of ashes and clinker. Doubtless when a greater 
depth is reached it will improve in quality. North of 
Unga Island, about ten miles inland from Stepovak Bay, 
is a trail or portage about ten miles long leading to Her- 
endeen Bay, at Port Mollar, on the Bering Sea side. An 
excellent quality of coal is found here in large quantities. 
The Alaska Commercial Company, the principal owner 
of the mine, has shipped considerable coal to its station at 
Unalaska; and its quality, both for steaming and house 
purposes, is found to be superior to that found at Unga. 
Extensive coal fields exist at Cape Lisburne, on the 
Arctic side, extending for thirty or forty miles parallel 
with the coast and for a number of miles back into the 
interior. It is of a lignite character, and the Government 
vessels Corwin and Thetis have taken coal for steaming 
purposes from here, and have found an excess of ash and 
clinker, which seems to be the general fault with all coal 
thus far discovered in Alaska. Strong indications of 
petroleum are found back from the coast a few miles, 
in this Arctic region, and also between Icy Bay and 
Cape Yaktaga. On the North Pacific coast, west of 
Yakutat Bay, there are extensive deposits or indications 
of petroleum. Practically all the coal used by vessels 
navigating Alaskan waters and in the quartz mills and 
towns of Alaska is brought from the Puget Sound country 
and British Columbia. It is bought at the mines for about 



MINERAL AND TIMBER 55 

three dollars per ton, and the expense of shipping to the 
Southern Alaska ports is five or six dollars per ton. The 
expense of opening up a coal mine is so great that until 
there is a large demand in Alaska it is doubtful if any of 
the mines will be worked. 



CHAPTER V 



FISHERIES 




THE fish industry of Al- 
aska is destined to 
assume immense propor- 
tions. 

Upon the authority 
of Professor Bean, of 
/ the United States Fish 
Commission, more than 
^~ one hundred varieties 
of fish are found in the 
Alaskan waters. Salmon, rank- 
ing first in importance, is found in great numbers in the 
streams from the lower extremity of South-east Alaska to 
the Arctic Ocean. The most favoured varieties are those 
known as the red or silver salmon, weighing from eight to 
twelve or fifteen pounds each, and the king salmon, often 
weighing as high as fifty pounds. The latter variety is 
found only in a few localities in South-east Alaska and in 
the Yukon, many miles above its mouth. It is said that 
specimens have been caught in this river weighing over 
one hundred and twenty pounds. 

The first salmon cannery in Alaska was erected in 1878, 

56 



FISHERIES 57 

and at the present time there are thirty-six ; most of them 
are in operation each season. 

The growth of this industry was extremely rapid, can- 
neries being constructed at a cost of from fifty thousand 
to one hundred and twenty thousand dollars each. 
Enormous profits gave rise to much speculation, but it 
was found that the supply of canned salmon when the 
canneries were run at their fullest capacity, was too great 
for the demand. 

In 1892, a combination or trust was formed, which re- 
sulted in closing down several canneries, but the owners 
came into a general pool and received a pro rata interest 
in the proceeds arising from the packs of the canneries in 
operation. Some of these canneries have a capacity of 
from forty thousand to sixty thousand cases each year, 
and when it is understood that a single case contains four 
dozen one-pound cans, and that in the year 1898 the 
combined pack of all the canneries was over 950,000 cases, 
an idea can be formed of the vast number of salmon 
caught. 

It is unusual for more than one establishment to be 
found on any salmon stream, but at Karluk, on the north- 
west side of Kadiak Island, on a small stream not exceeding 
sixty feet wide at its mouth, there are five canneries, and 
the supply of salmon seems inexhaustible. The river at 
its mouth, and for a long distance out into the salt water, 
during the spawning season, when the salmon are on 
their way to the lakes above for the purpose of depositing 
their eggs, seems to be fairly swarming with these fish. 
They fill the water to such extent as to almost dam it up, 
and those below, in their eagerness to ascend the river, 



58 ALASKA 

crowd those on top so that their fins and part of their 
body are exposed to view. The first season the author 
beheld the sight, he thought an appropriate name for this 
stream would be the " River of Life." 

While it will not be fair to charge these canning com- 
panies with being directly antagonistic to the settlement 
and development of Alaska, it is true that their influence 
has always been exerted in that direction. It has been 
the practice of these corporations to bring all their help 
from outside the territory. Not only are their fishermen 
brought from the Pacific coast States, but the entire 
canning force — and each establishment employs from 
forty to seventy-five men — are Chinamen. There are 
two exceptions, however, where the natives do most of 
the work of canning salmon, namely, at Klawak and 
New Metlakahtla. 

It requires no special skill to catch salmon, yet it has 
been the custom of these canneries to bring white men 
into the country in the spring for the purpose, and take 
them back to their home when the fishing season ended. 
It has been also the practice to pay the men for their 
season's work after they have reached their homes, thus 
not only taking the product of the streams away without 
paying a dollar for it, but depriving the Territory of the 
benefit resulting from the labour therein, which would 
contribute in no small way to the support and upbuilding 
of the country. If these industries would employ white 
men altogether, it would bring into the country many 
who might identify themselves with it in some way dur- 
ing the months the canneries are idle. Again, in the 
packing of salted salmon, the interests of the country are 



FISHERIES 59 

not considered. Fully seven thousand barrels, each 
weighing two hundred pounds, are prepared for the 
market each year. 

In the preparation of salmon an enormous quantity of 
boxes are used, but the sawmills of the Territory are not 
patronised ; for the material is imported and the boxes 
are put together as they are needed, though they might 
be manufactured in the country of as good quality of 
timber at less cost than they are furnished under the 
present system. 

South-east Alaska is covered with a dense growth of 
spruce, hemlock, and cedar, which should be a source of 
income and a means of employment for a large number 
of men, but it is lying dormant because one of the great 
industries of the Territory does not deem it proper to 
encourage manufactures within its borders. 

The liberty these canneries take in catching fish with- 
out restriction is a feature of this subject which is liable 
to be of great importance to the people who will in time 
inhabit Alaska, as well as to the many thousands of 
natives, who have from the earliest periods subsisted 
upon fish food. Restriction should have been imposed 
upon them a number of years ago. Some of the can- 
neries have erected traps at the mouths of the different 
streams, and few salmon are permitted to escape. It 
will not be difficult to understand, therefore, that in a 
few years streams thus obstructed must become ex- 
hausted, unless some means are adopted to prevent this 
wholesale destruction. 

The Alaskan codfish industry promises to become exten- 
sive in the near future. Cod are found in large quanti- 



60 ALASKA 

ties along the Aleutian chain of islands, as far west as 
the Alexandria Archipelago, and in a general way they 
may be said to exist along the whole southern coast of 
Alaska. 

In the vicinity of the Kadiak group of islands, and still 
farther south to the Simeonoff, and at the Shumagin 
group, about the islands of Magipopf and Unga, cod are 
found in great abundance. In Bering Sea, to the east of 
Unimak Pass, and towards the lower Siberian shore, they 
are also found in large quantities. Two San Francisco 
firms are the only parties extensively engaged in the 
catching and shipment of cod at the present time, and 
they seem to have developed the business sufficiently to 
meet the demand, for they have a number of vessels each 
season employed in the traffic. Two companies from 
Puget Sound are also engaged in cod-fishing in Bering 
Sea, but as yet to a very limited extent. 

The manner of fishing is usually from dories. The 
fishermen are paid at the rate of $25 for every thousand 
fish caught, and they are to measure at least twenty-six 
inches in length. If smaller fish are accepted, say meas- 
uring from twenty-four to twenty-six, two fish are counted 
as one. So it will be seen that these fish are caught with 
considerable ease and in great quantities in order to pay 
the fishermen fifty dollars per month, the smallest amount 
they expect to make from the cruise. 

Next in importance to the cod ranks the halibut, which 
is found in vast quantities in the waters of the inland 
channel, among the more shallow waters of the North 
Pacific, and in some portions of Bering Sea. They often 
weigh two hundred or more pounds, and one of the 



FISHERIES 6 1 

pleasures of tourists is catching these fish from the deck 
of the steamer while lying at some station. 

The halibut is a staple article of diet, both fresh and 
dried, with the natives, and it is said that the Alaskan 
halibut will compare favourably with, if they do not 
excel, those caught on the Atlantic coast. 

A fishing concern in Sitka has recently put up a limited 
amount of smoked halibut, and it has proven a most de- 
licious article of food. Very little effort has yet been 
made to force the sale, but the curing of halibut in this 
way may ultimately prove one of the leading industries 
of this country. 

There are immense schools of herring in most of the 
inland waters or estuaries of Alaska, and they, too, form 
an important element of the food supply of the natives. 
The greatest supply is found at Killisnoo, on the west 
side of Admiralty Island, where, some fourteen years 
ago, the largest fish-oil plant in the world was erected. 
Herring are caught by means of seines, and a single haul 
of twenty-five hundred barrels has been taken. After 
the oil is pressed from the fish, the refuse is put up as a 
fertiliser and shipped principally to the Sandwich Islands. 

The oolakon, or candle-fish, are also found in the inland 
channels, and in some localities of the North Pacific 
coast. They are a species of smelt, and are about eight 
inches long and almost round. They are so oily that, 
after being dried, they can be lighted and will burn com- 
pletely up, throwing a glimmer like a candle, as their 
name implies. The natives use these fish in greater 
numbers perhaps than any other variety. When boiled, 
they have a delicious flavour, and are tender and delight- 



62 ALASKA 

fully sweet. The oil is considered a rare delicacy by the 
natives, and quite an industry is carried on with those 
living in localities far remote from this fish supply. 

Most of the varieties of fish found on the Pacific coast, 
together with clams, mussels, and crabs, are found in great 
abundance in all the waters of Alaska, but oysters do not 
exist, probably on account of the low temperature of the 
water. 



CHAPTER VI 

LAND AND SEA ANIMALS 

ALASKA, in a peculiar sense, 
is the home of fur-bearing 
imals. It abounds in " fish, 
esh, and fowl." The bays and 
inlets teem with aquatic birds 
and animals, and the land is 
the home of the bear, wolf, 
deer, cariboo, moose, fox, 
wolverine, and many others 
S widely distributed. 

Early in the history of 
Russian occupancy of Alaska, the sea-otter-skin 
traffic, which for a long time had no competitor, began 
to find a rival of magnitude in the fur-seal trade. 

In 1787, the year succeeding the discovery of the Pri- 
bilof group of islands, over five hundred thousand fur 
seals were killed by Russian hunters, and the figures have 
even been placed as high as two millions. Whether the 
latter figures are exaggerated or not, it is true that 
twenty years from that time the fur seal had almost 
entirely disappeared from these islands. More than half 
of the skins taken on the Pribilof Islands were thrown 

63 




the 



64 ALASKA 

into the sea in an advanced stage of decomposition, 
because of careless curing, and the waters were so poisoned 
as to drive away the seals for several successive seasons. 

Chinese merchants trading on the Siberian frontier 
placed a high value upon these skins, and frequently re- 
fused to exchange teas with the Russian traders for any 
other commodity. When the Russian-American Com- 
pany obtained exclusive control of the Russian posses- 
sions in America, the fur seals were so nearly destroyed 
that for a time the new company's traffic was quite in- 
significant. A prompt and efficient remedy was at once 
applied, by prohibiting the killing of seals for five years, 
from 1807 to 18 12. At the expiration of that time the 
shy animals had returned, sufficiently recuperated to 
afford a continuous and reliable source of revenue. 

The art of plucking and dyeing seal skins was invented 
by the Chinese. The exact date when this process was 
adopted by the English is unknown, but it occurred some 
time during the first half of the nineteenth century, as a 
regular demand for seal skins can be traced from that 
time. Shipments directly to New York and London 
were inaugurated about 1850, and these shipments con- 
tinued at the rate of from twenty thousand to sixty thou- 
sand skins per annum, until the transfer of the Russian 
possessions to the United States, which occurred in 1867. 

When the question of acquiring Russian America was 
discussed in Congress, no particular stress was laid upon 
the prospective value of the fur-seal industry, though it 
was known to be one of the principal sources of revenue 
to the Russian-American Company. During the last 
decade of Russian ownership, the agents in charge of the 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS 65 

Pribilof Islands reported each year that the fur seals were 
increasing in such numbers that the rookeries were 
crowded beyond their capacity. Each report was ac- 
companied by urgent requests to be permitted to kill 
more seals, to make room for the increasing millions. 
The fact that it was possible to continue the slaughter at 
the rate of one hundred thousand per annum for twenty 
years after our purchase, seems to prove that when the 
United States acquired these valuable islands the indus- 
try was in as prosperous condition as when discovered by 
Pribilof in 1786. 

The radical restrictions of late years limiting the num- 
ber of seals to be killed annually to one hundred thou- 
sand were based upon careful observations and estimates ; 
but the indiscriminate slaughter inaugurated within the 
past few years by sealing vessels from British Columbia, 
which encountered the migrating animals on their way to 
the breeding-grounds, and killed males and females alike, 
has fully justified the still more radical restrictions since 
made. 

The only hauling or breeding grounds of the fur seal 
known in Alaska are upon the islands of St. Paul and 
St. George. On the Otter Islands these animals occa- 
sionally haul up, but do not breed. The Pacific and 
Antarctic Oceans have been scoured by sealers and emis- 
saries of trading firms, in search of supposed " winter 
homes " of the fur seal; but at the present day the fact 
seems to be established that, after leaving their confined 
breeding-places, they scatter over the broad Pacific to 
locations where extensive elevations of the bottom of the 
sea enable them to subsist upon fish until the instinct of 



66 ALASKA 

reproduction calls them again from all directions to their 
common rendezvous. 

The killing of fur seals is done altogether on land, and 
has been reduced, through long observation and practice, 
to a science. Under the present lease the company has 
been restricted to kill only 7500 each year until 1896, 
when the number was increased to 30,000, and in 1897 
and 1898 only about 20,000 were killed each year. The 
only individuals permitted to do the work are the able- 
bodied Aleutian hunters now living on the islands, whose 
ancestors were brought from the Aleutian Islands by the 
Russian Government. Life-long practice has made them 
expert in using their huge clubs and sharp skinning 
knives, both instruments being manufactured expressly 
for this purpose. These men are proud of their skill 
as sealers, and will not demean themselves by doing any 
other kind of work. 

The labour connected with the killing of seals may be 
divided into two distinct processes: the separation of the 
seals of a certain age and size from the main body and 
their removal to the killing ground ; and the final process, 
of making another sorting among the select, and killing 
and skinning them. A damp, cloudy day is especially 
desirable for both driving and killing. 

The young male seals, to the age of four years, invari- 
ably segregate themselves in the rear of the so-called 
rookeries — or groups of families — that line the seashore ; 
and the experienced native crawls in between the families 
and these " bachelors." This is accomplished without 
difficulty, and the animals are driven inland, in droves of 
from one to three thousand each, very slowly, lest the 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS 



6/ 



animals become overheated and injure the quality of 
their skins. When the slaughter ground is reached, 
twenty or thirty seals are separated from their fellows, in 
quick succession surrounded by their executioners armed 
with clubs, and the killing begins. The experienced eye 
of the Aleut quickly discovers if the seal is either under 
or above the specified age or size, and if such an one be 




found, he is dismissed with a gentle tap on the nose, and 
allowed to make his way to the shore and escape. 

The men with clubs proceed from one group to another, 
striking the seals violently on the head to stun them. 
Others immediately follow with long, sharp knives, and 
stab each stunned seal to the heart, to insure immediate 
death. Then the skinners come, and with astonishing 
rapidity divest the carcasses of their rich and valuable 
covering, leaving, however, the head and flippers intact. 
Carts, drawn by mules, follow the skinners, and into 
these the pelts are thrown to be carried away to the salt- 



68 ALASKA 

houses, and salted down for the time being like fish in 
barrels. Later, after pressure is applied, they are rolled 
in bundles of two each, with the fur inside, securely 
strapped, and are then ready for shipment. The wives 
and daughters of the sealers linger around the bloody 
field and reap a rich harvest of luscious blubber, carrying 
it away on their heads and shoulders, the oil dripping 
down over their faces and garments. 

The conference over the fur-seal controversy between 
Great Britain and the United States in Paris, in 1893, re- 
sulted disastrously to us. The contention made by the 
United States that Bering Sea was a closed sea, and there- 
fore our private water, was set aside by this commission, 
and we had to yield the point that we could not protect 
the seals in the open water of the sea, without other 
nations joining with us. 

Accordingly, a limit of sixty miles from the islands 
was established, and any vessel detected hunting seals 
within this district was confiscated. The hunting of seals 
was restricted to spears, and vessels caught with firearms 
of any description aboard were seized. 

The United States Government for four years prior to 
1898 had six revenue cutters patrolling the sea each sum- 
mer, while Great Britain had been represented most of 
the time by a single man-of-war. 

From the first year that these regulations were adopted, 
the number of American sealers has decreased and those 
of Great Britain increased, so that nine-tenths of the ves- 
sels engaged in sealing in 1897 sailed under the flag of 
Great Britain. 

As a matter of fact, England derived the most benefit 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS 69 

from this industry. The seals killed at the seal islands 
are shipped to London, where they are dressed and tanned 
by what is supposed to be a secret process. Nine-tenths 
of all skins taken in the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea by 
pelagic sealers were shipped to London and sold ; so 
that, practically, England is the only country deriving any 
benefit from these islands so far as concerns the skin in 
the raw state. 

Ever since the question arose as to what should be 
done to protect the seals from utter extermination, there 
has been no doubt that vigorous measures should be 
adopted to protect them. British Columbia alone has 
taken the opposite view, and the secret of her opposition 
to this measure has been that it was an industry engaged 
in largely by Canadians ; and this opposition has wielded 
great influence with the British Government, otherwise 
they would doubtless have joined with the United States 
in absolutely suppressing pelagic sealing immediately 
after the decision of the Paris Tribunal. 

Three years ago, the late Mr. Dingley of Maine intro- 
duced a bill in the House which passed that body but 
never reached the Senate for action. It provided that if 
England did not at once join with the United States to 
suppress the killing of seals in the open waters of Bering 
Sea and the Pacific, the United States would proceed 
to kill off every seal upon the islands, and this would 
have resulted in their utter and complete extermination. 

Many seals are caught upon the Japan coast in the 
spring of the year, and Russia owns an island in West 
Bering Sea where seals go annually to breed. 

The lease of the fur-seal islands now held by the North 



JO ALASKA 

American Commercial Company will not expire until 
1910, during which time this monopoly will undoubtedly 
make millions of dollars. 

In the spring of 1898 Congress passed a law absolutely 
prohibiting the importation into the United States of 
raw or dressed fur-seal skins. This has had the effect of 
almost entirely destroying the practice of hunting seals 
by both the American and British vessels, but the price 
of fur-seal garments has as yet advanced but little as a 
result of this prohibitive measure. This law will certainly 
result in an increase of the fur-seal animals, and it is to 
be hoped that it will not be repealed until the United 
States and Great Britain can mutually agree upon some 
measure that will prevent the extinction of this beautiful 
animal, which was so seriously threatened before the 
adoption of this stringent measure. 

Whether one effect of this law will be to destroy the 
popular demand for fur-seal garments in the United 
States, where they are more used than in any other 
country, remains to be seen, but in all probability it will 
always remain the choice fur, as it has no other rival in 
beauty and comfort, unless it be the sable, which is too 
scarce and too expensive to be universally popular. 

The sea otter seems to exist chiefly on a line parallel 
with the Japanese current, from the coast of Japan along 
the Kurile Islands to the coast of Kamtchatka, and thence 
westward along the Aleutian chain, the southward side 
of the Alaska peninsula, the estuaries of Cook Inlet and 
Prince William Sound, thence eastward and southward 
along the Alaska coast, the Alexander Archipelago, Brit- 
ish Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. But it is be- 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS J\ 

coming scarcer each year, owing to the recklessness with 
which it has been hunted and killed. Three distinct 
times during the existence of the Russian-American 
Company their agents in the Kurile Islands have reported 
the sea otter extinct, but each time it has appeared again, 
after a few years' respite from hunting. They change 
from one feeding ground to another. At the present 
date, about the Kurile Islands and Kamtchatka, few are 
killed annually, and Attu Island, and several smaller 
islands, which formerly furnished many hundred sea- 
otter skins every year, now produce less than a dozen 
skins in the same time. The outlying reefs of Atka, 
also, once furnished an abundant supply of these skins, 
but are now entirely deserted. From the island of 
Unimak eastward, however, sea otter has become more 
plentiful, and within a radius of fifty miles of the island 
about five hundred are taken annually. But the hunting 
is carried on recklessly by whites and natives alike, with 
firearms, in direct violation of the law. They are still 
found in the waters of the Kadiak Archipelago, as well 
as in the southern portion of Cook Inlet. 

The land otter is one of the most widely distributed 
fur-bearing animals in Alaska, unless we except the fox. 
The land otter is found on the whole coast of Alaska, 
from the southern boundary to Norton Sound. Within 
the Arctic circle it is confined to the upper portions of 
the rivers emptying into Kotzebue Sound and the Arctic 
Ocean ; and it is also found along the whole course of the 
Yukon, and, so far as known, in nearly all parts of the 
Alaska peninsula, the Kadiak Archipelago, and the coast 
from Mt. St. Elias to the southern boundary. 



72 ALASKA 

There has been a great decline, both in the supply and 
demand for beaver, during the last fifty years. Once it 
was the most important among the fur-bearing animals 
of continental Alaska. This animal has frequently suf- 
fered from the excessive and prolonged cold of the Arctic 
winter, in the interior country north of Cook Inlet and 
the Yukon. The ice in the river and lakes has formed so 
rapidly, and to such a thickness at times, that the animals 
found it impossible to keep open the approaches to their 
dwellings under water, and died of starvation before 
spring. Hundreds of putrefying carcasses have been 
found by natives in the beaver lodges. Old beaver-dams 
scattered over the continental portion of Alaska testify 
to the former abundance of the animal. Though now 
hundreds are taken where formerly thousands were 
captured, and notwithstanding the demand has lessened, 
the number of animals has not increased. 

When the Hudson Bay Company were lords of the 
entire North-west American continent, the skins of these 
animals represented the value of an English shilling, and 
were used and accepted as common currency. The pre- 
sent price of a beaver skin of average size, in Alaska, is 
from six to twelve dollars. The Indians of the interior 
and a few of the Eskimo tribes look upon the flesh of the 
beaver as a great delicacy. It is a dish which they 
always set before honoured guests, and is also much used 
in festivities. The long incisors of the beaver are made 
into chisels, small adzes, and other tools, for the working 
of wood and bone. 

The brown bear, a huge, shaggy animal, is found in 
nearly every section of the Territory. The northern limit 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS 73 

of its habitat is about sixty-seven degrees north latitude. 
It prefers an open, swampy country to the timber. The 
brown bear is an expert fisher, and during the salmon 
season it frequents all the rivers and their tributaries 
emptying into Bering Sea and the North Pacific. At the 
end of the annual salmon run, it retreats to the tundra, 
where berries and small game are plentiful. This animal 
has been called the road-maker of Alaska, for not only 
are swampy plains, leading to the easiest fording places 
of streams and rivers, intersected by his paths, but the 
hills and ridges of mountains are also marked by his foot- 
steps. The largest specimens are found at Cook Inlet. 
On its west side they can be seen in herds of twenty-five 
or thirty. From the fact that their skins are not very 
valuable, and also that they are of fierce disposition, 
they are little hunted. Before attempting to kill one, 
the native hunter invariably addresses a few compliment- 
ary remarks to his intended victim. 

The Thlinkits have a tradition, told them by the sha- 
mans, that the brown bear is a man who has assumed the 
shape of an animal. The tradition relates that this secret 
of nature first became known through the daughter of a 
chief. The girl went into the woods to gather berries, 
and incautiously spoke in terms of ridicule of a bear, 
whose traces she observed in her path. In punishment 
for her levity, she was decoyed into the bear's lair and 
there compelled to marry him and assume the form of a 
bear herself. After her husband and her ursine child 
had been killed by her Thlinkit brethren, she returned 
to her home in her former shape and related her advent- 
ures. In deference to this generally received supersti- 



74 ALASKA 

tion, when the natives run across bear tracks in the woods, 
they immediately say the most charming and compli- 
mentary things of bears in general, and their visitor in 
particular. 

The black bear generally confines himself to timber 
and mountain regions. He exists on a few islands in 
Prince William Sound, and on Kadiak Island, and is 
found on rivers emptying into the Arctic, and is plentiful 
southward to the valley of the Yukon. The skins com- 
mand high prices, and are increasing in value yearly. 
The animals are shy, and great skill and patience are re- 
quired to hunt them. Like the brown bear, they are 
expert fishers, wading into the streams and, as a salmon 
comes along, they strike with dextrous paw and land their 
fish on the bank, where it furnishes a toothsome feast. 
Unlike the brown bear, however, the natives do not fear 
them in the least. The glossiest and largest of black- 
bear skins come from the St. Elias Alpine range and 
Prince William Sound, but the black bear never attains 
the size of his brown relative. 

The red fox is found in every section of Alaska. In 
fact, this animal seems omnipresent. It varies in size 
and in the quality of its fur from a specimen as large as 
the high-priced Siberian fire-fox, to the small, yellow- 
tinged creature that rambles furtively over the rocky 
islands of the Aleutian chain. Like a poor relation, he 
mingles persistently with his aristocratic cousins, the 
black and silver foxes, always managing in course of time 
to deteriorate the blood and tarnish the coat of his richer 
relative. His diet is heterogeneous, fish, flesh, and fowl 
being equally satisfactory to his taste ; nor does he dis- 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS J$ 

dain shellfish, mussels, or the eggs of aquatic birds. He 
is rarely hunted or trapped by the natives, from the fact 
that his fur is cheap, and they never eat his flesh, except 
when driven to it from famine. 

The king of the vulpine family is the black fox. In 
the mountain fastnesses of the interior, and on the head- 
waters of the large rivers he is found in his prime. He 
is of large size, with long, soft, silky fur. He is also 
found along the boundaries between Alaska and British 
Columbia, in the country of the Chilkats, the Takus, the 
upper Copper River, upper Yukon, Tanana, and Kusko- 
quim Rivers. In the last named regions, skins may be 
bought from ten to fifteen dollars each, but in South-east 
Alaska, where competition is strong, eighty and one hun- 
dred dollars each is frequently paid for them. Black 
foxes are also found on the seacoast, on the shores of 
Norton Sound, in the interior of Kotzebue Sound, along 
the Yukon, and on the Colville River. They are quite 
plentiful on Kadiak Island and most of the Aleutian 
Islands ; but they have been transported by man's agency 
to many of these points. 

Along the south-western coast there are many islands, 
removed from the shore a few miles, uninhabited and 
never visited by natives. In a number of instances white 
men have gathered a few pairs of blue, black, and silver 
foxes, when young, from the natives, and taken them to 
these islands and turned them adrift. They arrange with 
the natives to carry food to them at stated periods, and 
they become in a measure tame. They increase very 
rapidly, and in three or four years become a source of 
profitable industry for the projectors of the enterprise. 



y6 ALASKA 

On the seal islands the propagation of the blue fox has 
been carried on under the protection of the Government 
for some years, only a certain number being killed each 
year. The blue fox was first discovered on the Aleutian 
Islands in 1741. It has been protected against intermix- 
ture with other and inferior foxes, and the skins are of 
the finest quality and command a price ranging from 
fifteen to twenty dollars in the market. 

The cross fox when killed in its prime is one of the 
prettiest of the fox family. Its fur is long and thick and 
often resembles in appearance the silver-grey fox. The 
market value is from eight to fifteen dollars. 

Almost the only high-priced fur found in the Yukon 
basin is the silver fox, and it forms a most important 
element in the trade of that region. 

The white fox is found along the continental coast of 
Alaska, from the mouth of the Kuskoquim River north- 
ward to Point Barrow. Its fur is snowy white, soft and 
long, but is not durable; hence it does not command a 
high price in the market. The white fox is fearless, and 
will enter villages and dwellings in search of food, or out 
of mere curiosity. It will eat anything to satisfy hunger, 
and in the depth of winter the natives find it unsafe to 
leave any article of clothing, dog harness, or boat material 
where these thieving little animals can find them. 

The marten, usually called by fur dealers Hudson Bay 
sable, are very numerous in the interior and in Northern 
Alaska. They are about the same size and shape as the 
mink, but the fur is much longer and of a finer texture, 
They are usually of a lightish brown or yellow tint, but 
are sometimes found very dark, and occasionally one is 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS 'J'] 

found almost black; there being little difference between 
it and the much-prized Russian sable. 

Mink are plentiful on the coast, but not on the islands, 
excepting those of Prince William Sound. They are also 
abundant on the Yukon and many other rivers. The 
spell of fashion has made this skin of but little value ; 
but within the past two years it has become more popu- 
lar, and in a few years it may be as fashionable as when, 
a score or more years ago, it was the pride of every 
woman to possess a cape made from the fur of these 
pretty animals. 

The polar bear is found only on the Arctic coast where 
there are large bodies of ice. With the moving ice fields 
he enters and leaves the waters of Bering Sea. From 
fifty to one hundred of these animals are killed yearly, 
principally by the natives. It sometimes happens, when 
a whale that has been struck by a harpoon and not killed 
in time dies and is washed ashore, the polar bears will 
come from all directions, drawn by the scent of the car- 
cass, and feed on the blubber. Natives then come upon 
them with their crude weapons and slay them in large 
numbers. 

The lynx is found in the wooded mountains, and 
wolves, both grey and white, are plentiful, but rarely 
killed. 

Muskrats abound all over Alaska, and rabbits and mar- 
mots are killed for their flesh ; the natives use the skins 
of the former for clothing. Especially is this true in the 
Arctic region, as the reindeer, the animal that formerly 
supplied them with skins for clothing, are fast dis- 
appearing. 



?8 ALASKA 

Wolverines are plentiful on the upper Yukon and the 
lake sections. The skins are rarely exported, as a ready 
market is found among the inhabitants of the coast region 
of the Yukon and Kuskoquim, who prefer this shaggy, 
piebald fur to any other trimming for their wearing ap- 
parel. This skin is very highly prized among the Eskimo, 
for it serves as an excellent protection for their faces 
against the severe blasts, when sewed around their hoods. 

Deer are very abundant, especially in South-east Alaska, 
where, in winter, they are recklessly slaughtered for their 
hides, when driven to the coast by long-continued snow. 
So reckless has this slaughter become that there is great 
danger of their being exterminated, unless Congress 
passes a law prohibiting the exportation of deer hides 
from the Territory for a number of years. Deer form a 
large supply of food for the natives of South-east Alaska; 
and the wanton manner in which they are killed bids fair 
to eliminate a food product of vast importance. They 
are hunted, in the rutting season, by a call made from a 
blade of grass placed between two strips of wood, which 
produces a very clever imitation of the cry of the deer. 
This call leads them to the ambushed hunter; and so 
deceptive is it that it is not unusual to get a second shot 
should the first fail. The wolves play great havoc with 
the deer; and it is remarkable that they exist in such 
numbers among so many ruthless enemies. 

Moose, cariboo, and deer are found in the upper Yukon 
country, and especially on the White River moose are 
reported by the natives to be plentiful and of large size. 

The deer of the Arctic and subarctic regions have been 
confounded with the reindeer of other localities. While 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS 79 

they certainly belong to the same family, they are what is 
called the barren ground cariboo, which differs from the 
upland cariboo and domesticated reindeer, being smaller 
in body and horns. 

The mountain sheep and goat are found along the 
highest mountains of the coast and in the interior, in 
droves of twenty or more. They seem to prefer the 
highest altitudes and most precipitous steeps. Their 
wool is long and fine, and when nicely cleansed and tanned 
makes beautiful rugs. The horns of the sheep are made 
into bowls and ladles by the natives; and many rare and 
beautiful pieces worked up in this way find ready pur- 
chasers in tourists. 

Bald and grey eagles are numerous throughout South- 
east Alaska, and are also found to some extent in the 
interior wherever there is large timber. The natives kill 
them in large numbers and pluck the feathers, leaving 
nothing but the down. When cleansed the skins are 
sewed together, about thirty of them being required to 
make a robe, which is at once rich and beautiful. 

Humming-birds in large numbers, having the delicate 
plumage of those found in warmer climates, flit from 
bush to bush in South-east Alaska. Native boys tie small 
pieces of red flannel on a limb, and cover them thickly 
with pitch. The bright colour attracts the tiny birds, 
who alight on the flannel. Their little feet adhere so 
tenaciously to the pitch that they cannot extricate them- 
selves, so they become an easy prey to the youngsters 
who trap them, only to worry them to death with savage 
cruelty. 

In all the waters of Alaska, whether in the south-eastern 



SO ALASKA 

country, the interior, or Arctic regions, ducks and geese 
in every variety are found in vast numbers. Alaska ap- 
pears to be especially adapted as a natural breeding 
ground. The smaller varieties of land and timber birds 
are as numerous as the water fowl, and the graceful 
swan are found in large numbers in many parts of the 
Territory. 

In Arctic Alaska the disappearance of the snow and ice 
is immediately followed by the arrival of birds from the 
south in large numbers, and in a few weeks the Eskimos 
revel in the variety and number of eggs found among the 
grass and tundra. Besides the wholesale robbing of nests 
for eggs, the young fledglings are eaten by the Eskimos 
with a keen relish. Their stay is brief, however, for 
none, save the most hardy of the Arctic birds, remain to 
pass the long months of winter in this region. 

The species of whale known as the beluga or white 
grampus is native in the deep waters and has been known 
to ascend some of the larger rivers. The skin of this 
mammal is employed by the natives in the manufacture 
of rope, straps, and soles of boots. 

The hair seal is found in great numbers in the waters 
throughout the whole Territory, and, as is well known, 
constitutes the principal food supply of the natives, and 
especially is this true among those living in the far north. 
They delight to frequent the waters of Glacier Bay, and 
the natives hunt them much easier among the bergs of 
ice than in the waters of the ocean. A white cloth is 
spread over the bow of the canoe, giving it the appear- 
ance of a piece of ice, and the natives, dressed in jacket 
and hat of the same material, paddling among the ice, 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS 8 1 

are thus enabled to get within easy range of their prey 
before it detects the deception. 

The walrus, a native of Bering Sea and the Arctic, 
travels in herds, and in the long days of summer may be 
seen in large numbers lying lazily on the ice. The skin 
of this animal is used by the natives as covering for their 
boats, and the tusks are worked up into implements of 
the chase and hunt, but this animal is rapidly being 
exterminated. 

Black whale are found in all the deep waters, and may 
be seen sporting even in the inland passages. It is not 
uncommon for schools of this animal to be seen from the 
deck of the tourist steamers. 

Whale may be considered as one of the resources of 
Alaska, and in the northern region they have for ages 
formed the principal food supply of the Eskimos. 

The species of whale known as black whale has little 
commercial value, and are caught by the whites only for 
the little oil that may be obtained from them. Its pre- 
sent market value does not justify the expense incurred in 
their capture and the trying out of the blubber aboard 
the vessel. 

Whalebone is found in the black whale, but is short, 
coarse, and of little or no value. The kind used so much 
in the manufacture of corsets, whips, and other articles 
is found only in the right and bowhead whale. From 
two hundred to two thousand pounds of bone are found 
in a single whale, according to its size, and its market 
value is about three dollars per pound. Five years ago 
it reached as high as six dollars per pound, but this 
was the result of a corner in the market, and the price 

6 



82 ALASKA 

quickly dropped to three dollars, where it has remained 
ever since. 

In the past few years many substitutes have been in- 
vented designed to take the place of whalebone, and 
while what is known as featherbone answers an excellent 
purpose, nothing has yet been found that is so light and 
flexible as the bone of the whale. 

Whalebone is found in the upper jaw, and extends 
backward on both sides of the mouth. It grows in layers 
from six to sixteen inches wide at the butt, gradually 
tapering off to a point, and is from two to twelve feet 
long, according to the size of the whale. 

On account of the high price of bone, the hunting of 
whale for the past ten years has been done principally 
with steam vessels, and it has been prosecuted with such 
vigour that they have been driven almost entirely out of 
Bering Sea, and are now found, as a rule, only after pass- 
ing through Bering Strait. The close pursuit of the 
whale has resulted in their seeking the region near the 
Mackenzie River as a rendezvous or feeding ground, and 
of late vessels winter in this region in order to be ready 
for the whale's appearance in these waters the following 
summer. 

Within the next few years, if the pursuit of the whale 
continues, they are destined to utter annihilation. The 
past fifty years has witnessed the transfer of the whaling 
fleet from the Atlantic and eastern Arctic Oceans to the 
other side of the continent, but an occasional whale is 
caught in those waters and in the vicinity of Cape Horn. 

Less than twenty vessels are now engaged in whaling, 
while ten years ago over fifty were following the hazard- 



LAND AND SEA ANIMALS 83 

ous vocation of hunting these animals among the ice. 
Not a season passed without the loss of one or more 
vessels, and in the summer of 1877 over twenty were 
wrecked in the ice above Bering Strait. This catastrophe 
led to the establishment of a rescue station by the Gov- 
ernment at Point Barrow, the most northern point of 
Alaska. It was provisioned with supplies sufficient to 
last one hundred men a year, but, as the cost of main- 
taining the station was considerable, it was abandoned 
two years ago. 

It may be interesting while noting some of the re- 
sources of Alaska to mention the value of some of its 
exports since the United States acquired possession. It 
will serve to show that the vast and varied resources of 
our great northern possessions are worthy of more than a 
passing word. The following table, carefully compiled 
from official records, will show that the purchase of 
Alaska was not only a shrewd piece of diplomatic sagac- 
ity, but that Seward's " ice-box" has proven a most 
profitable investment : 

Furs $54,000,000 

Canned Salmon 13,000,000 

Whalebone 11,000,000 

Gold and Silver 20,000,000 

Whale Oil 3, 500,000 

Codfish 2,000,000 

Salted Salmon 1,000,000 

Ivory 175,000 

Total $104,675,000 



CHAPTER VII 

REINDEER 

NINE years ago the United States revenue cutter 
Bear, which was detailed by the Government to 
patrol the Arctic, to render assistance to the whaling 
vessels if they should be nipped in the ice, had occasion 
to pass within sight of a little island in North Bering 
Sea, about forty miles from the coast, known as King's 
Island. The man on the lookout noticed a boat loaded 
with Eskimos put off from the island and paddle toward 
the vessel. As soon as it came alongside, the occupants 
made known to the captain that they were in a starving 
condition. An officer was at once sent ashore, and soon 
returning he reported that the people were so reduced 
for food that they had been living for some weeks on 
their Eskimo dogs. There are about three hundred 
Eskimos on this island, and they live in huts dug into 
the side of a mountain, gaining an entrance and passing 
from one to another by means of pole ladders. Though 
difficult of access, the location of the huts affords protec- 
tion from the severe winds and cold of the long winter. 
For eight months in the year the ice absolutely prevents 
the natives from having any communication with those 
on shore, and they only come in contact with them when 

84 




ESKIMO VILLAGE ON KING'S ISLAND, NORTH BERING SEA. 



REINDEER 85 

they venture across the water in their skin boats during 
the brief summer. 

A few years ago the walrus existed in large numbers 
throughout all this region. The whalers on their way 
north have hunted them so closely that they have prac- 
tically exterminated them. The walrus travel in herds, 
hauling out on the ice, sleeping and basking in the sun, 
and in this condition become an easy prey to the white 
man with his breech-loading rifle. They are hunted by 
the whalers simply for their ivory tusks, a pair of them 
weighing from two to twenty pounds, and having a 
value of only about fifty cents per pound. The natives 
use the ivory of the walrus in the manufacture of many 
of their implements of the hunt and chase, the skin for 
tents and coverings for their boats and canoes, and eat 
the flesh and oil, which they consider a delicacy. 

Five or six years ago it was not an uncommon thing 
for a party of Eskimos to put out in a skin boat, and with 
their crude harpoons and spears capture a whale; but the 
American whalers have so closely pursued them, that 
now they are only found a long distance north of the 
last settlement. During the spring of 1897 but one 
whale was caught by the Eskimos for many miles north 
and south of Bering Strait. 

Since the advent of the whalers many natives have 
bought muzzle-loading rifles and ammunition from them, 
and have hunted the wild reindeer, killing them off with- 
out regard to age or sex, until they, too, are practically 
exterminated. A few years ago they roamed all through 
Arctic Alaska in large herds, but in the past few years 
they have been seldom killed by these people. Thus it 



86 ALASKA 

will be seen that the greed of the white man has robbed 
these people of two of their principal food supplies, until 
to-day they are left in almost a starving condition, being 
obliged to depend almost entirely upon the hair seal and 
small fish for their food supply. 

On receipt of the report of the cruise of the revenue 
cutter at Washington, the Government became interested 
in the starving Eskimos, and an appropriation was made 
for the purpose of transporting reindeer from Siberia, 
where they exist in immense herds; the purpose con- 
templated being to establish stations in different parts of 
Arctic Alaska, instruct the Eskimos in the manner of 
rearing them as the natives do in Siberia, and when they 
have acquired this knowledge, distribute the deer among 
them, so that in the future they will have an unfailing 
food and clothing supply. 

The author was selected by the Government to estab- 
lish a reindeer station at Port Clarence, and in the sum- 
mer of 1892, 170 of these animals were brought over from 
the Siberian coast and the station duly organised. The 
increase of the first year was nearly fifty per cent., and 
other reindeer have been brought over each year since. 
There are about 1500 reindeer belonging to the Govern- 
ment now in this region, distributed as follows : Cape 
Prince of Wales, 350; Port Clarence, 550; Cape Nome, 
175; Golofnin Bay, 300. 

Arctic Alaska is peculiarly adapted to the raising of 
reindeer. It consists of vast areas of tundra and moss 
which furnishes the reindeer with an article of food espe- 
cially adapted for their sustenance. There is little doubt 
that the reindeer industry will in the near future assume 



REINDEER S? 

considerable proportions, and private companies will em- 
bark in the business of raising this animal in these regions 
for commercial purposes, the same as stock-raising is fol- 
lowed in the grazing regions in many of the States of the 
Union. Its flesh is excellent and as palatable as the 
venison usually found in the market, and the hides, if 
cured in the proper season, are well adapted to many 
purposes of commerce. 

The colour of the fur of the reindeer is varied. Per- 
haps the most common is seal-brown, and when free from 
other shades it is decidedly rich in appearance. The 
fur, for such it may properly be called, after it has taken 
on its summer coat is soft and glossy, and about the 
length of that of the fur seal. When taken at this 
season, if properly dressed it sheds very little. The 
skin is soft and pliable, and but little thicker than that of 
the fur seal. The reindeer skin was at one time the only 
one used by the natives for their clothing and tents, but 
now the hair seal and ground squirrel skins play an im- 
portant part. Reindeer skins have become a matter of 
luxury with the natives, and only those who deny them- 
selves other things that they need for their comfort wear 
reindeer clothing. In the country about Kotzebue Sound 
occasionally a skin is secured from a wild reindeer, but is 
so rare that it assumes somewhat of the nature of a curi- 
osity. Thus it will be seen that, practically, all the rein- 
deer skins used by the Alaska Eskimos come from Siberia. 

The result of the first year's experimenting with rein- 
deer in Arctic Alaska demonstrated that the country was 
even better adapted to the propagating of these beautiful 
animals than their native heath, Siberia. 



88 ALASKA 

The expenditure by the Government of the few thou- 
sand dollars invested in this project has resulted in an 
increase of nearly fifty per cent., and justifies the im- 
portation from Siberia of large herds of this little animal 
and the distribution of them as fast as possible through- 
out this Arctic waste. 

Essential as reindeer-fur clothing is to the miners of 
the interior, equally necessary is this little animal as a 
beast of burden, for it will solve the problem of transport- 
ation to and from the stations and mining camps. Al- 
though a full-grown reindeer will not exceed in weight 
two hundred and fifty pounds, a single animal will haul 
on a sledge as much as a team of six dogs on good roads ; 
by this is meant, on crust or frozen ground. In deep 
snow, if soft, they quickly become fatigued and dis- 
couraged, but if light and fluffy, which is the character 
of the snow generally in the interior, they can carry their 
load all day long much the same as oxen, slow but sure. 
They are not, as is generally supposed, a speedy animal 
for a long distance. One day after another, thirty miles 
would be their average time. They are gentle and intel- 
ligent, and soon learn to know what is expected of them. 
They can be utilised as pack or saddle animals, but for 
either purpose the load must rest on their shoulders. 

In riding, the position is an awkward one, for the feet 
nearly touch the ground, and the practice should only be 
indulged in when the roads are good, or to rest one who 
may have become tired from a long tramp. 

A reindeer is at the right age to break to harness when 
two years old. He is most tractable when a gelding, 
and the argument in favour of the horse when a gelding 



REINDEER 89 

being better for work will apply to reindeer, although 
there seems to be no good reason why bulls could not 
be as effectually broken and as easily handled. The 
same can be said of females, but the occasion would sel- 
dom occur when one of this sex would be required for 
work, and her best sphere in life is doubtless for breeding 
purposes. 

The favourite manner of driving reindeer is two abreast, 
and the device for harnessing them is simple in the ex- 
treme, consisting of head-stall, breast-strap to which the 
tugs are attached, and belly-band. There is no tongue 
or shafts to the sled, and a single line from the side of each 
deer with a connection from one to the other is the 
device for guiding them. In freighting, a single deer 
hitched to a sled, the driver walking alongside, and a half- 
dozen other deer, each hauling a sled, following behind, 
are easily controlled by one man. 

The great disadvantage in the use of horses and cattle 
in this region is that feed must be provided for them, 
oftentimes at great expense, while reindeer pick their own 
food. When the day's work is done, the deer are loos- 
ened from their harness, and lassoed to a frozen mound 
of earth ; then they paw away the snow with their fore- 
feet and eat the moss. Then, too, cattle and horses 
must be provided with water, and in this region most of 
the time ice must be melted to secure it, while reindeer 
quench their thirst by eating snow. 

Congress seems to have awakened at last to the im- 
portance of prosecuting vigorously the propagation of 
reindeer in Alaska, for on the 3rd of March last an ap- 
propriation of $25,000 was made for this purpose. 



9 o 



ALASKA 



The first efforts made to introduce reindeer in Alaska 
for the purpose of providing food and clothing for the 
starving Eskimos were met with severe criticism, and 
this has continued since the establishment of the first 
station at Port Clarence in 1892. Additional zest was 
added to this opposition by the failure of the attempt to 
import reindeer from Lapland, for the purpose of reliev- 
ing the supposed starving miners in the Klondike in the 
early spring of 1898. 

While this project was a failure, little else could be 
expected when the transportation of these animals for 
several thousand miles is considered, first by ocean 
steamer to New York, then by rail across the continent, 
this being followed again by steamer from Seattle to 
Lynn Canal. It was no wonder that they arrived in a 
weakened condition at the point where the overland 
journey to the Klondike was to begin; indeed, the won- 
der is, that a single reindeer was living when landed in 
Alaska. 

A counteracting argument against the importation of 
reindeer into Alaska, is the successful result of the driving 
of four hundred and fifty reindeer over four hundred 
miles from Unalaklik to Point Barrow, for the relief of the 
imprisoned shipwrecked sailors, which was accomplished 
in 1898 in the dead of an Arctic winter through a country 
a part of which was never before travelled by whites. 

The practicability of reindeer for transportation in 
Alaska has no warmer advocates than Lieutenants Jarvis 
and Bertholf and Surgeon Call of the revenue cutter 
Bear, and Mr. W. T. Lopp, missionary at Cape Prince 
of Wales, who composed this expedition ; and the serv- 



REINDEER 9 1 

ices of these men who braved the terrors of such an 
undertaking during the trying and dangerous tramp of 
four months, are well worthy the bestowal of the gold 
medals they have received for their bravery. 

The Eskimo dog in Alaska is the Eskimo beast of 
burden. He is a creature of great sagacity in his way, 
and does not possess the worthless traits of the cur 
usually found among Indians in more temperate climates. 
He is cared for with the indulgence shown a child, and 
while the nature of the Eskimo is to be brutal to all 
creatures not human, his dog is fed regularly, and the 
last fish is shared with the animal, whether on a journey 
or at home. While the Eskimo prizes his dog highly, it 
is not because he is actuated by feelings of affection, for 
this animal is not looked upon in the light of a com- 
panion, and is never caressed or petted. 

The Eskimo dog is doubtless part wolf, for many of 
his characteristics are wolfish in nature. He looks like a 
wolf, he howls like a wolf, never barks, his hair is more 
like fur, and he is in his natural element when lying on 
the top of snow with no protection from the severe blasts 
of the Arctic winter, and seems thoroughly comfortable 
when exposed to the fury of a storm. He lies curled up 
like a ball and sleeps as soundly as though on a bed of 
furs. He is strong and powerful, and when six or eight 
of them are hitched together it is wonderful what loads 
they can handle. Twenty-five or thirty miles a day is a 
fair average for a dog team, and on a good road, hitched 
one ahead of the other, they make a pretty team. They 
are persistent, and when unable to haul a heavy load, will 
jump up and down with a broken chorus of howls mani- 



9 2 



ALASKA 



festing their impatience to go, and, when they settle down 
to an earnest pull, never give up until they have ex- 
hausted all their strength. An Eskimo dog team is an 
expensive luxury in the interior of Alaska, for dried fish 
is their food, and on a long journey the bulk of the load 
must be made up of food for the team. 

The St. Bernard and Newfoundland dogs are not, as is 
generally supposed, profitable dogs for this country. 
Though they can haul heavy loads, they are not adapted 
to the long, severe winters of this latitude. They do not 
take kindly to fresh or dried fish, hence the master must 
share his food with his team, thus making it an expen- 
sive one to keep. But the great objection to these dogs 
is that their feet become sore on a journey, on account 
of the snow filling in between the toes and freezing, thus 
soon disabling them. 




CHAPTER VIII 

ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS 

WHENCE came the Alaska Eskimo is a question 
that will probably never be satisfactorily determ- 
ined, as no record or written history furnishes a clue, 
but the consensus of opinion seems to point to an Asiatic 
origin. 

Professor Dall, in his report on the distribution, origin, 
etc., of the native races of the northwestern territory, 
believes the natives of Alaska were once the inhabitants 
of the interior of America, and that they were forced to 
the west and north by tribes of Indians from the south. 
He can in no way connect them with the Japanese or the 
Chinese, either by dress, manner, or language. 

Mr. L. M. Turner, who spent a number of years among 
the Aleutian Islands and on the East Bering coast as far 
north as Norton Sound, reports to the Smithsonian In- 
stitute, that the Innuits or Eskimo without doubt popu- 
lated this country from the coast of Greenland, and that 
he found no trouble in tracing a relationship, and proof 
that the migration was from the east to the west. 

Professor Otis T. Mason, of the same institution, takes 
the position that the emigration came from Asia to this 
continent, and that the Alaska Eskimos are undoubtedly 
of Mongolian origin. 

93 



94 ALASKA 

The first thought that strikes one when he looks upon 
an Alaska Eskimo for the first time is, " how striking 
the resemblance to the Japanese," and the longer he as- 
sociates with them, the more strongly he is impressed 
with the idea that at some time, though very remote, 
there has been a connecting link between these two 
peoples. 

Their stature, colour of hair, shape of eyes, olive com- 
plexion, and small hands and feet all bear a striking 
resemblance to the Japanese. Many of their character- 
istics are similar, as, for instance, their sunny and happy 
disposition ; the most marked characteristic perhaps 
being their innate faculty of imitation which is so con- 
spicuous among the Japanese. 

The usually accepted theory that some time in the past 
the Japanese worked their way northward through Si- 
beria and thence across the narrow waters dividing the 
two continents at Bering Strait and populated the Arctic 
regions, does not seem altogether a plausible one. The 
strongest argument against it is, that since the Arctic is 
a region of desolation, a wild, bleak expanse of ice and 
snow, there was little inducement for the Japanese to 
migrate to such inhospitable shores. 

It seems a more reasonable theory that sometime in 
the world's history, what is now known as the polar 
regions was a tropical country, and when the change 
came the inhabitants emigrated southward, perhaps 
crossing Bering Strait, leaving a remnant of their people 
in the north, who are the Eskimos of to-day. 

Little Artmarhoke, one of the Eskimo twins whose 
picture appears elsewhere in this chapter, is a fair 



ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS 95 

illustration of the resemblance the Eskimo bear to the 
Japanese. The resemblance is effectually shown in the 
picture, in which this little Eskimo has exchanged her fur 
clothing for a loose jacket and skirt, which, together 
with the simple arrangement of her hair to the style worn 
by these people, has transformed her into a veritable 
little Jap. 

Another interesting point in connection with the Eski- 
mo is that they are found in every part of the Arctic 
region explored by the white man, from Smith Sound in 
Greenland to nearly the western limits of Siberia; thus 
these people, whose numerical strength aggregate but a 
few thousand, inhabit a greater extent of country from 
east to west than any other people on the globe, with the 
single exception of the Anglo-Saxon. 

The Eskimos of Arctic Alaska do not live, as many sup- 
pose, in snow houses. They live in huts built under- 
ground. Usually more than one family occupy a single 
hut, and often ten or fifteen persons live for eight months 
in the year in a single apartment that is barely large 
enough for two persons. 

Their huts are built by digging a hole in the ground 
about six feet deep, and large bones of whale or logs from 
driftwood are stood up side by side all around the hole. 
On the tops of these are laid logs that rest even with the 
top of the ground. Stringers are then laid across them 
and other logs are laid on these, then moss and dirt are 
covered over, leaving an opening about two feet square, 
over which is stretched a piece of walrus entrail that is so 
transparent that light comes through, which answers the 
purpose of a window. 



g6 ALASKA 

An entrance into the hut is made through an apart- 
ment constructed similar to the hut, in the top of which 
a hole is left large enough to admit a person, and by 
means of a sort of step-ladder he reaches the bottom. 
From this is a passageway, usually about two feet 
square, through which he must crawl on his hands and 
knees to reach the living-room of the hut, perhaps fifteen 
or twenty feet away. At the end of the passage leading 
into the hut is a skin which is pushed aside when one 
enters or goes out. When this is closed over the hole, 
the apartment is practically air-tight, and when occupied 
by a dozen or more persons the air soon becomes so foul 
that one side of the little skin window has to be pulled 
up to let it escape. Occasionally a hut is found where 
the occupants appreciate the value of fresh air and have 
inserted a wooden spout in the roof through which the 
impure air is allowed to escape. 

No tables or chairs are ever used by the Eskimos, and 
the only article found in the way of furniture is their 
stove, or, more properly speaking, lamp. They are all 
of one pattern, usually of wood, but sometimes of stone, 
and are shaped the same as a circular board would be if 
cut in halves. The centre of the lamp is hollowed out 
to a depth of perhaps a half-inch, thus leaving a ridge. 
Along this ridge is spread a sort of cotton, gathered from 
a wild shrub in summer. This answers for a lamp wick, 
and when saturated with seal oil will burn a long time 
before being consumed. The lamp is placed on two 
wooden pins driven into the logs on one side of the hut, 
and above the lamp is driven another wooden pin, on 
which is placed a piece of seal blubber, just far enough 



1 


JQ^I 


% 




■> 








/ 


V^ 


^ 


1 






\\, 




! 


\ 

I 


v^__ 



ARTMARHOKE DRESSED AS A JAPANESE. 



ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS Qf 

from the flame to cause the oil to drip sufficiently to 
furnish fuel for the lamp. 

The Eskimos may be truly said to burn the midnight 
oil, for their lamps are never suffered to go out from the 
time they are lighted in the fall until they abandon their 
huts for the tent in summer. This is their only stove, 
and for heating purposes is excellent. 

The Eskimos are, as a rule, industrious. It is seldom 
that a lazy person is seen among either sex. They early 
learn that an existence is only to be had by applying 
themselves to some task, and the older they grow the 
more they are impressed with the knowledge that they 
can satisfy the cravings of an empty stomach only by 
industrious labour. 

The preparation of skins requires ceaseless exertion, 
and when they are ready to be made up, sinew thread 
must be braided and twisted, which in itself is an art. 
This is one of the first things a young girl is taught, and 
while she is yet almost an infant is capable of preparing 
thread from deer or whale sinew with all the dexterity of 
a woman. Most women are expert sewers, and their 
stitches are often as even and regular as could be made 
by a machine. 

Eskimo women have long since learned the advantage 
of the needle of civilisation over the ivory awl used by 
their great-grandmothers. Our thimble, too, finds a 
place in their workbag, and is esteemed a great improve- 
ment over the piece of sealskin cut to slip over the finger, 
which they formerly used, but they discard our cotton 
and linen thread as vastly inferior to sinew thread in 
working upon skins. 

7 



98 ALA SIC A 

Probably in the fact that the Eskimos are obliged 
to put an endless amount of labour into nearly every- 
thing they make, lies the secret of their everlasting 
patience. They will scrape at a skin a long time before 
scarcely any impression is made upon it, and rub and pull 
at one when it is hard and stiff, but finally the skin be- 
comes soft and pliable under their delicately formed 
hands, which seem poorly adapted to such work. 

Their hands are, without exception, small and prettily 
shaped. Among those women who are large and tall 
their hands are unusually small and shapely. The same 
is true of their feet. The complexion of the Eskimos is 
also of a character that one would scarcely expect to find 
among people who are brought so much in contact with 
the elements. Although the colour of their skin borders 
strongly on the olive order, it seems soft and clear. 

In eating, the Eskimos all sit around in a circle, and 
the food is placed on the floor in the centre of the group. 
No meal, whether it be of dried or frozen fish, seal or 
whale meat, is ready to be eaten until a vessel containing 
seal oil is at hand. This is placed in a position easily 
reached by those eating, and before taking a bite of any- 
thing it is first dipped into the oil, or two or three fingers 
are thrust into it, and then placed in the mouth and 
sucked. Such a thing as a spoon is rarely ever used by 
them, and it is doubtful if many of them would under- 
stand its use if they had one. 

It is when a household of Eskimos are gathered about 
the floor partaking of their food that their natural dispo- 
sition to mirth is given full sway, and every meal, whether 
in their huts or when camping out, partakes more 



ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS 99 

of the nature of a family reunion than an every-day oc- 
currence. They are naturally given to jest and laughter, 
and a continual hubbub reigns until the last morsel is 
eaten. This predisposition toward good nature is always 
present. A surly Eskimo is rarely seen, and whether it 
rains or shines, or the wind blows a blizzard from the" 
North Pole, they are the same happy and apparently 
contented people. 

The Eskimos have but one standard measure, and that 
is the fathom. It means as much as a man can span by 
holding his arms out at right angles to his body, and this 
measures about six feet. When buying calico or drilling of 
the whites, or measuring the dimensions of a boat or log, 
or for any other purpose, it is always so many fathoms. 

If a woman wants to make a present, the only thing 
that suggests itself to her, and in fact the only thing she 
ever gives to a lover, is a tobacco pouch. These they 
make of reindeer or squirrel skin in various styles, and 
decorate them with beads or some fancy-coloured fur, 
such as the ermine, either in its delicate yellow tinge of 
summer or the pure white it assumes in winter. 

The Eskimos still cling to the primitive manner of 
making fire with flint or by rubbing two pieces of wood 
together. 

They carry these articles in a little bag, in the bottom 
of which are little wads of the same fibrous material used 
for wicks for their oil lamps, and which is gathered from 
a wild bush in the fall of the year. In making a light, 
they take a small piece of this cotton, which has pre- 
viously been rolled in wood ashes, and holding it be- 
tween the thumb and flint, strike the flints together, and 



IOO ALASKA 

the sparks emitted ignite the cotton, which is blown into 
a flame. It is a crude way of getting a fire started, but 
is one of the most simple and interesting of their customs, 
for it comes from a period of time when the Eskimos had 
to depend upon their own resources for obtaining a fire, 
and before they knew anything about the usefulness of 
the match of civilisation. 

The Eskimos are complete slaves to tobacco, and it is 
seldom that one is seen who does not use it in one form 
or another. Ail the men and most of the women smoke, 
while a child, after it reaches the age of five or six years, 
appears not to be a true representative of his race, if he 
cannot smoke a pipe or chew tobacco. 

While nearly all the women smoke, they take to chew- 
ing more naturally, and they do it so quietly that one 
would not suspect it from their actions. They never 
spit, and only crunch it occasionally, preferring to suck it 
or allow it to lie quietly in the mouth, and, as spittle ac- 
cumulates, swallow it. They cannot understand why a 
white man spits when chewing or smoking, for they seem 
to find pleasure in the habit only from swallowing the 
juice. If a native is chewing and wants to eat he carefully 
takes the quid of tobacco from his mouth and puts it on 
top of his ear. From this place it is afterwards taken to be 
again put in his mouth, and this process is repeated until 
he has gotten all the substance he can from the tobacco. 
It is then carefully put away in his tobacco pouch, to 
eventually find its way to his pipe, and the end of that 
tobacco is not reached until it is wafted away in clouds 
of smoke. An Eskimo who is without tobacco is as 
wretched as a confirmed drunkard without his whiskey, 



ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS IOI 

and he will go to as great extremes to secure it as he 
would to procure food for himself and family. It is the 
first thing he asks for when a white man approaches him, 
and the first article he wants to trade for when he has 
furs to sell. 

There is no doubt that the Eskimos smoked and 
chewed long before they obtained tobacco from the 
whites, for even now one is occasionally seen using a 
substitute made from a root found in the country. 

The Eskimos have two kinds of water craft, — the 
oomiak, or skin boat, and the kyak, or canoe. The 
oomiak is a curiously constructed affair, and when stand- 
ing on the beach looks lumbering and awkward and as if 
it would not carry a heavy load or ride much of a sea; 
yet as many as thirty or forty persons often get in one, 
and when thus loaded it will ride in rough water with 
remarkable buoyancy. The usual size of the oomiak is 
about thirty-five feet long, six feet beam, about four feet 
deep in the middle, and comes almost to a point at both 
ends. It is built something after the shape of a dory. 
The framework is made of pieces of timber, the heaviest 
of which are about three inches square. These are placed 
lengthwise in the bottom of the boat, and across them are 
lashed small strips by means of seal thongs, each joint 
being made to fit closely. 

When the timbers are firmly lashed together they are 
very strong, and a heavy sea striking the side of the boat 
will not cause it to yield at a single joint. When the 
framework is finally ready, walrus- or sealskin is stretched 
over it, the pieces sewed together and pulled as tightly 
as possible, and then lashed to the top-rail. When the 



102 ALASKA 

skin is in place scarcely a drop of water can penetrate 
through the seams. Over the top-rail about two feet of 
the skin is allowed to hang loosely on the inside, the 
whole length of the boat, and when sailing in rough 
weather, slats are raised between the skin and frame, the 
loose skin pulled up, thus giving about two feet more of 
surface above the sea, and if carefully managed scarcely 
a drop of water can reach the inside in the roughest 
weather. The oomiak has no keel, and therefore cannot 
beat or tack against the wind, and the only thing to do 
if it blows too hard is to seek the first landing that 
can be made. 

There is generally but one mast to the oomiak, and 
this stands about one-third of the length back from the 
bow, and when there is no wind it is taken down and laid 
in the boat. Sometimes, when the wind is fair, a second 
but smaller mast is placed about the same distance from 
the stern of the boat, but they are only used in the 
largest oomiaks. The lower end of the mast is inserted 
in a slot between timbers in the bottom of the boat, and 
guys extend from near the top to both sides and also to 
both bow and stern. 

One not accustomed to the oomiak is in constant dread 
of moving about, for fear that if he should step between 
the framework he will make a hole in the skin, for the 
water is plainly seen through it. The natives pay little 
attention to where they step in going from one part of the 
boat to another, and although their feet will depress the 
skin two or three inches, there is no danger of its giving 
way, and the very spot they are standing on would 
doubtless hold up a ton. 




ESKIMO BOY, ESKIMO HUT, ESKIMO GIRLS, ESKIMO FAMILY, 
ESKIMO SPEARING WALRUS 



ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS M03 

Nansen says the kyak of the Eskimos is the most re- 
markable craft known. It is similar in construction and 
style to the skin canoe or bidarka found among the 
natives along the southern coast of Alaska. It is not 
much used by the coast Eskimos, as they do most of 
their travelling by water in the oomiak, but those in the 
interior use it to greater extent in navigating on the 
rivers and lakes, on account of its extreme lightness, a 
single kyak weighing about twenty-five pounds. They 
are generally the single-hatch kyak, but occasionally 
one is found with two or three hatches and capable of 
carrying as many persons. 

The snow-shoes of the Eskimos are similar to those 
used in all cold countries. They are always carried on 
the sled when travelling and are much needed when the 
snow is falling in the spring. They are especially useful 
when hunting seal on ice, for the wearers are thus en- 
abled to cross broken cakes of ice without danger. 

The Eskimos are decidedly domestic in their habits. 
The men are usually considerate of their wives and the 
affection of parents for children is very marked. Children 
are seldom punished, and if so, lightly. They usually 
respond quickly to a command and are very obedient. 

An invalid is an object of great solicitation and often 
receives contributions of food from those whose supply 
does not justify the gift. 

Occasionally a man will whip his wife for some real or 
fancied wrong. This practice appears to be a sort of 
generally established right that the husband is entitled 
to indulge in, and the woman seems to think more of her 
huband after the punishment. 



104 ALASKA 

Should a man and woman separate, he takes possession 
of all her personal belongings, even stripping her of 
clothing that may be useful to a second wife. 

The women have various ways of adornment. They 
sometimes have the middle latch of the nose pierced, 
through which pieces of ivory are suspended. They 
also pierce the ears above the end and pass two or 
three strings of beads from one ear to the other under 
the chin. Their ambition, however, is to wear rings 
and bracelets of brass or copper, which they value as 
we do gold. 

A mark which serves as a good means of determining 
sex is worn by the females. It consists of three or five 
lines about an eighth of an inch wide on the chin. In- 
stead of pricking it in, a sharp instrument is drawn over 
the skin until blood comes, and wood ashes are then 
rubbed in, and when it heals it leaves marks like tattoo- 
ing. This practice is universal, and is usually put on 
when a girl reaches the age of eight years. 

The men seldom tattoo their arms and hands. Their 
only peculiarities of dress are shaving the crown of the 
head and wearing the labret. An aperture is punctured 
in either side of the lower lip with much care and some 
pain, to insert the labret, which is usually made of highly 
polished ivory with a colored bead in the centre, and is 
from half an inch to an inch in diameter. 

The only difference in the style of the clothing worn 
by men and women is the shape of the artiger, or coat, 
and trousers. The artiger of the women has a slit at both 
sides from the bottom to the hips; that of the man is 
the same length all around. The trousers of the women 



■■■--. 




A TYPICAL ALASKA ESKIMO GIRL. 



ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS 105 

have the foot-gear sewed to them ; those of the men are 
cut off at the knee or ankle. When a woman is bundled 
up, with the hood of her artiger drawn closely around her 
face, the tattoo marks are covered, and the only way to 
distinguish her sex, is by the shape of her artiger. 

A most ingeniously contrived garment is the Eskimo 
rain-coat. It is made from the intestines of the hair 
seal and walrus. Strips about three inches wide are 
sewed together with thread made from the sinew of the 
reindeer, stripped in shreds and woven into this remark- 
able thread. This Eskimo mackintosh is exceedingly 
light, not weighing more than four ounces, and is large 
enough to cover the head and body as low as the knees. 
Clad in it, one is as thoroughly protected from rain as he 
would be in the mackintosh of civilisation. 

Plurality of wives is a practice that is by no means 
common, and when it does occur it is among men who, 
by virtue of their possessing more property than their 
neighbours, are able to support more than one wife. 
When the custom prevails, there appears to be no dis- 
turbing or quarrelsome disposition, and if there is any, 
the aggrieved woman bottles her wrath ; doubtless from 
fear that she will be turned out to shift for herself, which 
is more to be dreaded than any pang of envy or jealousy 
she might experience. 

The Arctic Alaska Eskimo is, physically, a fine speci- 
men of the human race. While as a rule they will not 
average over five feet six or eight inches in height, oc- 
casionally a six-footer is found. They are not by any 
means dwarfish in stature or slow and sluggish in their 
movements; neither are they dull and stupid intellect- 



106 ALASKA 

ually. The casual observer might think them so, for 
they appear subdued and reserved when among the 
whites ; but when away from them and left to act freely, 
they are bright, cheerful, and intelligent. 

A stout or corpulent Eskimo is never seen. Their 
whole life is one which calls into play every muscle of 
the body, and they are distinctly an athletic race. Not 
a pound of superfluous flesh is on their closely knitted 
frames, and, while their hands, lower limbs, and feet are 
very small, their chests and shoulders are grandly de- 
veloped, and their arms are muscular and sinewy. 

They are very fond of athletic sports, and football and 
jumping are practised by them to a considerable extent. 
They indulge in many exercises that test their strength, 
such as pulling each other's arms when locked together, 
wrestling, lifting each other or heavy weights, and many 
such exercises that will bring into play every muscle. 
Many of them excel in jumping and kicking, and occa- 
sionally one is found who can kick with both feet higher 
than his own head, a performance that few white athletes 
can accomplish. 

When dancing, one or more of the men beat upon a 
drum made by stretching a piece of walrus entrail over 
a hoop, and this serves as a time-marker for the partici- 
pants in the dance, to which the grotesque throwing 
about of the arms and twisting of their bodies are made 
to add a pantomimic accompaniment. During all this 
time they jump and whirl about in the most violent 
manner, and only stop from sheer exhaustion. The 
drum is the only musical instrument used by the Eski- 
mos. They are all very fond of song, and the blending 



ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS IOJ 

of their voices gives a harmony that becomes more pleas- 
ing to the ear the oftener it is heard. 

The Eskimos have no creed or dogmas of religion — no 
God or idols, but they are always guided by the mys- 
terious, and have many symbols and signs of good and 
evil; their life is one continuous round of superstitious 
belief. 

There are about 20,000 Eskimos in Arctic Alaska who 
are the most intelligent, good-looking, and amiable 
natives found on the continent. These blubber-eating 
savages, as they are often denominated, are now on the 
verge of starvation as the result of the avarice of com- 
merce in the wholesale massacre and extermination by 
the whites of the walrus and whale, which, from time 
immemorial have been the two chief articles of diet of 
these people. It is well worth an effort on the part of 
the Government to rescue the Alaska Eskimos from 
starvation, and the project of distributing reindeer among 
them to provide them with food and clothing is the best 
missionary work the Government can undertake ; for while 
it encourages them to cultivate a vocation it will also 
relieve the nation of the obloquy of having wards un- 
cared for and neglected. 



CHAPTER IX 

ALASKA INDIANS 

WHAT we have said of the origin of the Eskimos of 
Alaska and their relationship to the Japanese 
may be applied with equal force to the Indians of Alaska. 

In their personal appearance, there is very little resem- 
blance to the North American Indians, but there is a 
most striking one to the Japanese. The same imitative 
quality that is so prominent among the Eskimos is per- 
haps the most distinguishing characteristic also of the 
Alaska Indians. The resemblance between the so-called 
Indians of Alaska and the Eskimos is so strong, that if 
the Indian should exchange his usual garb, that of Euro- 
pean clothing or a blanket, with the Eskimo for his fur 
clothing, it would be difficult to determine that either 
was not what his dress would seem to indicate. 

While it is true that both the Indians and Eskimos are 
small in stature, many of the former, notably the Copper 
River, Kuskoquim, and Tanana River Indians are tall 
and sinewy ; and it is not uncommon among the Eskimos 
to find many of them five feet eight inches, five feet ten 
inches, and even six feet in height. 

Among the coast or Southeast Alaska Indians, there 
are but four or five distinct lanugages, the Thlinkit being 

108 



ALASKA INDIANS ICX) 

the most generally used. But all through this region and 
extending as far west as Yakutat, and into the interior 
to the headwaters of the Yukon, what is known as Chi- 
nook, a jargon originated by the early settlers during the 
palmy days of the Hudson Bay trading-posts is generally 
used. It contains but a few hundred words, many of 
them more striking than elegant. Beyond these points 
the Chinook jargon is never used. 

The aborigines of any country are quick to adopt the 
vices of the white man, but much slower in assuming hi^ 
virtues. This is not to be wondered at, as usually the 
whites with whom they first come in contact are not of 
a class whose virtues are conspicuous, and the unsuspect- 
ing native has the smooth paths of vice pointed out more 
often than the steep and rugged road of virtue. The 
aborigines' love of intoxicants is great, and he will do 
almost anything to procure them. 

When the Russians first occupied the country, they 
taught the natives to make quass, a cooling and compara- 
tively harmless drink, concocted of rye meal mixed with 
water which they placed in a cask until fermented. Lat- 
terly the natives learned to add sugar, flour, dried apples, 
and a few hops, putting the whole into a cask until 
cleared by fermentation. A strong intoxicant is the 
result. Another home-brewed intoxicant, called hoochi- 
noo, is made of fermented molasses and flour, and is a 
vile kind of liquor. When imbibed, it fairly crazes the 
natives, fitting them for any deeds of violence or vicious- 
ness. They are fond of Jamaica ginger, lemon extract, 
Florida water, cologne, or, in fact, anything having fra- 
grance or a ' tang." 



IIO ALASKA 

Totem poles are found in every village along the 
southeastern coast. There is some difference of opinion 
as to their real significance. They are intended, in part, 
to commemorate deeds of bravery, or some virtue, in the 
lives of the departed, near whose graves they are reared ; 
also to indicate the family arms of the persons for whom 
they are erected, and whose habitations they adorn. 
Some tribes are represented by the crow or the hawk; 
others have the bear, the whale, or the beaver, as their 
distinctive tribal emblem. These poles are elaborately 
carved from top to bottom, some reaching the height of 
fifty feet, and being three or four feet in diameter. The 
height signifies the importance of the individual. These 
people have an oral mythology of the most fabulous 
character, handed down from father to son. Many of 
the curious carvings on the totem poles are designed to 
tell, in story, some event in the history or tribe of the 
individual. 

Despite the efforts of missionaries and teachers, and 
the influence of civilisation, witchcraft is still believed in 
to a greater or less extent. Evil spirits still take posses- 
sion of the old, the decrepit, and the deformed, some- 
times of the young, and these must be exorcised ; it being 
considered a matter of duty to dispossess the unfortunate 
of his tormentors. Death sometimes results from the 
tortures undergone by those " bewitched." 

Cremation was formerly practised throughout the 
whole coast country of Alaska, but it is fast disappearing 
now, except where it is followed by tribes removed from 
missionary influences. It may be here suggested, how- 
ever, that the energies expended by missionaries and 



ALASKA INDIANS III 

teachers in eradicating this custom, time-honoured in 
its antiquity, might have borne better fruits if spent in 
other directions. 

The dead are usually placed in boxes, not long enough 
to permit the whole body to recline at full length, so it 
is jointed and placed in a sitting posture, and the box 
kept above ground. Sometimes the location of a grave 
is on a high point, where the departed spirit can look out 
upon his former haunts. Some of the personal effects of 
the deceased are often placed beside him. 

The shamans, or doctors, are never cremated, but lie 
in state four days — one day in each corner of the dwell- 
ing, — then the corpse is conveyed to the dead-house, 
where it is seated in an upright position, with blankets 
and paraphernalia to add to its comfort in the spirit land. 

Among the Thlinkits, the name by which most of the 
natives in South-east Alaska are known, cremation was 
formerly the favourite method of disposing of the dead. 
The bodies of " witches " and slaves were disposed of 
with great secrecy, but those of chiefs lay in state. The 
people observed certain rites, then the body was cre- 
mated, the totem pole erected to his memory, and his 
ashes were incased in the base. 

There is positive evidence that cannibalism was prac- 
tised among these people upon the death of chiefs; the 
sacrifice of slaves was common, that their spirits might 
accompany them into the spirit land. It is highly prob- 
able that the bodies of these slaves were cooked and 
eaten. Medicine men have sometimes been known to 
devour portions of corpses, believing that they would 
acquire control of the spirit and gain influence over 



112 



ALASKA 



demon spirits. As the giant tree yields to the axe of 
the woodman, so are most of these practices and customs 
giving way before the advance of civilisation. 




INDIAN DOCTOR. 



The Alaska Indians are inveterate gamblers. The 
favourite game is played with a handful of small sticks 
of different colours, called by various names, such as 



ALASKA INDIANS 113 

crab, whale, duck, otter, etc. The player shuffles all 
the sticks together, then places them under bunches of 
moss. The object is to guess under which pile is the 
whale or the duck, etc. Simple as it looks, the natives 
often lose all their possessions at the game. This kind 
of gambling is much the same as that called " sing- 
gamble " among Puget Sound Indians, the latter of 
whom accompany the shuffling and hiding of sticks with 
a weird chant. 

They are remarkably expert in carving and engraving, 
as the numerous totem poles, arrowheads, spearheads, 
and silver and copper ornaments prove. Bullets, spear- 
heads, and arrowheads, as well as ornaments of various 
kinds, are made by the natives of copper, found on 
White River in the interior country, and not on Copper 
River, as is generally supposed. Baskets of ingenious 
design and colouring are made from grasses and roots ; 
and the celebrated Chilkat blanket is made from the 
wool of the mountain sheep. Some of these blankets 
are really beautiful in design and workmanship, many of 
them being sold for one hundred dollars. They are 
woven on rude hand looms, and it usually takes a native 
woman six months to complete one. The real article is, 
however, becoming scarce, as most of those now seen 
contain an admixture of the coarse yarn of commerce. 

Before the strong arm of the law stepped in, an injury 
of one native by another could be satisfied by the pay- 
ment of some article of value, usually a blanket. Even 
murder could be atoned for and forgiven, if a sufficient 
number of blankets were handed over to the murdered 
man's relatives. The law of " An eye for an eye, and a 



114 ALASKA 

tooth for a tooth," was modified by these people. An 
innocent person might be sacrificed, and this was con- 
sidered an equivalent and taken as full satisfaction and 
the murderer was allowed to go free. 

The canoe of the native is to him a necessity. It is 
made of wood in South-east Alaska; in the far north, of 
skins. In the southern portions the wood selected is 
usually the red and yellow cedar. Many of these canoes 
have graceful lines, elaborately carved prows and sterns, 
and are frequently large enough to carry forty or fifty 
men. They are cut out of the whole tree, the magni- 
ficent yellow cedar, which frequently grows to a great 
height, and is from seven to ten feet in diameter, being 
the best. The sides are carefully modelled, worked, and 
bent by the use of hot water so as to have the required 
graceful curve, and the canoe, when finished and dried, 
always retains the shape given to it by the builder. 

The paint used by the natives to decorate their canoes, 
totems, and faces, is of two colours only, red and black. 
It is made of a kind of rock found in the country, which 
is rubbed over the surface of a coarse stone, and as it is 
ground off water or oil is mixed with it, and it makes a 
very excellent substitute for paint. Brushes are made of 
feathers, or the sinews of animals. The Eskimos of the 
Arctic find the same kind of stone in that region, and use 
it for painting or decorating their sleds. The Aleuts, 
especially west of Unalaska, are artistic in their work 
with grasses and roots, and the delicacy with which they 
weave and braid them evinces wonderful skill. 

It is the practice of the natives of South-east Alaska to 
blacken their faces in summer, by rubbing in soot mixed 



ALASKA INDIANS 1 1 5 

with seal oil. This is done to prevent the sun blistering 
them when travelling on the water. It also acts as a 
shade to their eyes, which would otherwise suffer from 
the glaring reflection of the sun's rays. 

The houses of natives in South-east Alaska are con- 
structed of hewn boards or planks, and in some of the 
larger villages they are built of massive logs, very similar 
to the log houses built by whites in heavily timbered 
countries. In the centre there is a square opening, eight 
or ten feet across, which is neatly filled with gravel, upon 
which the fire is built. The smoke ascends to the roof 
through an opening made lengthwise, with the comb 
several feet long, of boards or thin slabs, that can be 
raised on either side so as to make a perfect draft, ac- 
cording to the direction the wind is blowing. Around 
the fireplace, the floor is built a few inches high, and 
bunks are placed against the sides of the house in such 
number as the occupants require. There is rarely more 
than one room in the house. 

The house of the Aleuts, or natives of the Aleutian 
Archipelago, is called a barabara, and is a sort of sod 
house and dugout combined. The entrance is usually 
by a dark and narrow opening, through which the natives 
crawl, and which leads into the main room. 



CHAPTER X 

MISSIONARIES AND THEIR WORK 

IT was in 1793, that Catherine, Empress of Russia, sent 
missionaries to Russian America to instruct the nat- 
ives in religion, and at the same time, also sent convicts 
from Siberia to teach them agriculture. The result of this 
strange admixture was that, in ten years, the number of 
natives was largely reduced, the outrages of unscrupulous 
men being so unspeakable. The lives of natives were 
valued no more than those of dogs; and the spirit and 
life were nearly stamped out of such as survived. 

The Russian proverb — " Heaven is high and the Czar 
distant " — was followed literally, and the indignities 
practised upon the unfortunate natives were without 
limit. A few priests of the Greek faith tried to stem the 
tide, but succeeded in an indifferent manner. Their 
missions were established at different points on the coast, 
and even in the interior. The natives, attracted by the 
pomp and ceremony of the church, were attentive listen- 
ers and observers. But they understood very little, and 
not much information was imparted, aside from teaching 
the Russians and half-breed children the rites of the 
church. Indian attendance was not encouraged in the 
Russian schools. 

116 



MISSIONARIES AND THEIR WORK 117 

During the Russian occupancy, Finns, Swedes, and 
Germans were largely employed by the fur company, 
and a Lutheran missionary was sent out to Sitka for their 
benefit, and a mission established in 1845. The Russian 
schools and churches, for the most part, were closed in 
1867, when the American flag displaced that of Russia; 
and Russians and other Europeans returned to their re- 
spective countries, leaving the people " corrupted and 
degraded by their influence." The Lutheran preacher 
with his flock also departed, United States soldiers were 
placed in frontier posts, and a new set of traders took 
the places of the former ones. 

For seventeen years Congress neglected to provide any 
form of civil government for her new possessions; all 
progress was checked, and healthful development was at 
a discount. This was no doubt due to the bitter de- 
nunciations of the purchase of Alaska, and the ridicule 
heaped upon what was sneeringly referred to as " Seward's 
Folly." Alaska was considered by the American people 
as a whole to be an inhospitable region of perpetual snow 
and ice; peopled by ignorant, fierce, and degraded sav- 
ages — notwithstanding the statement which has been so 
often quoted from Mr. Seward's speech on Alaska: 
' That it must be a fastidious person who complains of 
a climate in which, while the eagle delights to soar, the 
humming-bird does not disdain to flutter." 

Finally, the tales of gold discovery, coupled with the 
work of American and other missionaries, stimulated our 
Government into attempting an assumption of its duty. 
It is an undoubted fact that the present geographical 
knowledge of this vast country has been largely gained 



1 18 ALASKA 

through devoted missionaries, and it is also due to this 
class of persons that the natives have learned " that the 
white men are not all bad," a belief strongly implanted 
in their minds from their intercourse with vicious and 
unscrupulous persons. 

In 1885, Congress first made an appropriation for the 
Alaska public-school system, and since that time over 
thirty schools have been established at different points 
throughout the Territory, and money appropriated by the 
General Government is annually distributed among the 
established church denominations, which goes towards 
supporting their respective schools. 

The first school in Alaska was organised at Kadiak by 
Gregory Shelikoff, in 1784. The first church building 
was also erected there ; it still exists, but the school has 
been extinct for a quarter of a century. 

The Indian industrial training schools have proved 
excellent educational institutions. Among these, three 
deserve especial mention. They are located at Sitka, 
New Metlakahtla, and Koserefski. The school at Sitka is 
partially aided by the Government and is under the Pres- 
byterian Board of Home Missions, that at Koserefski is 
under Roman Catholic supervision, and that at New 
Metlakahtla is under the direction of Mr. William Dun- 
can, to whose work reference is made elsewhere in this 
chapter. 

In these schools the boys are taught painting, carpen- 
try, shoemaking, and other trades. The girls are in- 
structed in cooking, baking, sewing, and all branches of 
plain housekeeping, the purpose, in short, of these schools 
being to civilise and Christianise the native children. 



MISSIONARIES AND THEIR WORK 119 

At Juneau, Sitka, Unalaska, St. Michaels, and three 
or four other points along the coast, the Russian Church 
is still labouring, especially with the natives, among whom 
there are a large number of communicants. This church, 
the first established in Alaska, had a few — a very few — 
noble exceptions among their priests who did good work 
for the natives. But while they were solicitous for the 
spiritual welfare of the natives, their attendance at school 
did not seem to be desired or encouraged. 

The Roman Catholic Church has had in Alaska, since 
it passed into the possession of the United States, a 
number of earnest workers in their cause, principal among 
whom are Father Barnum, Father Althoff, and Father 
Tosi. The former has spent a number of years in the 
interior, principally along the Lower Yukon; Father 
Althoff labouring in South-east Alaska for over sixteen 
years, during which time he founded at Juneau St. Ann's 
Hospital; and Father Tosi, after twenty-five years spent 
in the interior, died last year on his way to civilisation 
from his field of labour. 

Three years ago the Episcopal Church created a 
diocese of Alaska presided over by Bishop Rowe, whose 
residence is at Sitka. Since assuming the charge, he 
has made long journeys into the interior, coming into 
personal contact with the natives, and labouring earnestly 
in his efforts to extend the influence of his church among 
these people. 

The most remarkable and interesting missionary settle- 
ment in Alaska is New Metlakahtla. Some forty years 
ago, a young Englishman named William Duncan landed 
at Fort Simpson, about seven miles south of the Alaskan 



120 ALASKA 

boundary. He came alone, knowing nothing of the 
people among whom he was about to cast his lot, but at 
the early age of twenty-one solemnly dedicated his life 
to the cause of raising from barbarism a race whose fre- 
quent acts of cannibalism stamped them as among the 
most savage people on the face of the earth. 

Metlakahtla was the village that Mr. Duncan estab- 
lished nearly half a century ago. There eight hundred 
natives lived and prospered. Taught by their devoted 
friend, they sawed logs, built houses, canned salmon, 
and engaged in nearly every branch of business that 
would utilise the products of the country. A church 
edifice, that would do credit to many a larger white 
settlement, reared its spire heavenward, and every man, 
woman, and child in the settlement regularly sought 
religious consolation there. 

But a representative of the Church of England ap- 
peared among them, and insisted that that portion of the 
sacrament wherein wine is administered, and which Mr. 
Duncan had ignored, should be observed. His reason 
for not carrying out this important tenet of the church 
was that he had found his greatest trouble in teaching 
the natives to avoid intoxicating drinks; and he reasoned 
that, if he permitted wine at the sacrament, his people 
would not understand why they should not indulge in 
liquor at other times. 

Mr. Duncan's prejudice in this matter was so strong 
that he said if his course were not permitted, he would 
take his people, like the Pilgrims of old, to some place 
where they could exercise religious liberty, untrammelled 
by church dogmas. The church ruling was insistent, 




I- IU 

1 I 

<t ° 

* g 

I- > 

US ffl 

2 I 



MISSIONARIES AND THEIR WORK 121 

and Mr. Duncan, equally determined, went to Washing- 
ton, sought President Cleveland, and explained how the 
Church of England had attempted to supplant him with 
another minister among the people to whom he had 
devoted his life. 

He was assured by the President that this Government 
would offer an asylum where they could enjoy religious 
freedom ; and promised that Congress would take action 
looking to their protection. Accordingly, on March 3, 
1 891, a bill was passed, setting aside Annette Island for 
the use and benefit of these natives, but immediately 
following his visit to Washington, and upon the strength 
of the promise that his people would be protected, they 
abandoned their improvements and property, gave up 
their comfortable homes, and with only a few household 
goods, went out into the wilderness. On the seventh 
day of August, 1887, they arrived at their present home, 
naming it New Metlakahtla, and under the graceful folds 
of the Stars and Stripes, which they had flung to the 
breeze, they solemnly transferred their allegiance from 
Canada to the United States. 

In the past twelve years, a settlement has been built up 
that bears witness of wonderful progress in civilisation by 
these people. They live in comfortable houses, many of 
them handsome and homelike. Every branch of business is 
represented as in their old home, only in a more advanced 
scale, and the people are self-sustaining, industrious, and 
happy. And the secret of success of this missionary set- 
tlement is its isolation from white settlements, and the 
natives have been compelled by strict discipline and 
teachings to abstain from association with the whites. 



122 ALASKA 

Rev. Hall Young and wife, formerly at Fort Wrangel, 
Professor and Mrs. John A. Tuck, of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, stationed at Unalaska, Mr. and Mrs. 
W. T. Lopp, Congregational, at Cape Prince of Wales, 
Mr. and Mrs. I. Loomis Gould, Presbyterian, at Jack- 
son, Rev. and Mrs. E. A. Austin, Presbyterian, at Sitka, 
have all worked for a number of years with a devotion 
rarely equalled. 

The noble army of martyrs has also been recruited 
in Alaskan borders. Father Juvenal, a Russian priest, 
was killed at Cook Inlet for his interference with poly- 
gamy. Archbishop Seghers, of the Roman Catholic 
Church, was murdered on the Yukon by a travelling 
companion. A teacher named Edwards was killed at 
Kake village in 1891, while attempting to enforce the 
law in regard to the landing of whiskey; and in the sum- 
mer of 1893, Harrison R. Thornton, a young missionary 
and teacher who, with his wife, was stationed at Cape 
Prince of Wales, was cruelly murdered by Eskimos, for 
which act there was no cause and which could have been 
prevented. 

Measured from a religious point of view, the results 
obtained through the incessant and self-sacrificing labour 
of the missionaries of Alaska cannot be said to be en- 
tirely satisfactory to those whose interest has been 
awakened in the spiritual welfare of the natives of 
Alaska. 

Thousands of dollars have been expended in the erec- 
tion of buildings and the equipment of schools and 
churches, and in three notable instances, namely, Juneau, 
Sitka, and Unalaska, industrial schools have been main- 



MISSIONARIES AND THEIR WORK 1 23 

tained for several years, where children have remained 
until they learned some trade or occupation. While their 
educational progress has been satisfactory, they have 
been constantly under the influence of white associations, 
coming in daily contact with frequenters of the saloon 
and the dance-house, and many instances are known 
where young native women, upon leaving school, have 
quickly fallen into a life of dissipation and its accom- 
panying evils. 

The question has often been asked, how good results 
could be expected in the education of native children 
where the environments are such that even white boys 
and girls could not escape the allurements and tempta- 
tions that have proven a pitfall to so many native child- 
ren in Alaska. 

There is one, and only one solution to this problem, 
namely, the abandonment of these institutions and re- 
moval to points away from white associations. Under 
these conditions, they will grow up and mature in an 
atmosphere of right living and good teachings, among 
their own people. There is nothing in common between 
the whites and natives of Alaska, and the happiness and 
contentment of one are not dependent upon the other, and 
will not be for several generations yet to come. 



CHAPTER XI 

PICTURESQUE ALASKA 

THE tourist route to Alaska extends from Seattle to 
Sitka, and lies over a course which, for nearly 
twelve hundred miles, is almost entirely through narrow 
channels bordered by high mountains that completely 
prevent the sea from becoming rough. If an occasional 
glimpse of the waters of the North Pacific Ocean were 
not obtained, when passing from the shelter of one island 
behind the precipitous shores of another, one would never 
realise that he was enjoying all the pleasures of a sea 
voyage, with but few of the discomforts. 

The vessels are large, comfortable, and convenient, 
and the appointments throughout are especially adapted 
for the sort of trip made ; and every facility is afforded 
for complete enjoyment, and every opportunity given to 
see and learn all there is to discover on this greatest of 
tourists' routes. 

The universal verdict of those who are so fortunate as 
to be able to take a trip to Alaska is that it is one round 
of charming surprises, and the scenery superior to that 
found in any other part of the civilised world. The 
masters of the steamers have all been on this route for 
many years, and they never forget, for an instant, to 

124 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA 1 25 

afford the passengers every opportunity to see and enjoy 
to the fullest extent all sights and pleasures possible. 

The most favourable time for making the trip is from 
the first of June until the last of August; yet a month 
earlier or later presents many opportunities for enjoy- 
ment. The long period of twilight which prevails in 
this latitude, in the spring and fall months, strikes one as 
strange, but an excellent view is often obtained in this 
subdued light. 

The dry subject of enumeration of the articles needed 
on this trip may be abbreviated by the simple suggestion 
that one should carry such articles as are usually needed 
on a journey of two or three weeks, being careful to have 
clothing that is warm and suitable for an unusually rainy 
country. 

Seattle, which bears the illustrious title of the Queen 
City of the North-west, is situated upon an indentation 
of Puget Sound, forming a perfect harbour, almost circu- 
lar in shape, and named Elliott Bay. 

It is a substantial, well-built city, having a population 
of more than seventy thousand, and it presents in every 
way the air and activity of a live, bustling, and enter- 
prising city. Although founded 'way back in the fifties, 
the real growth of Seattle dates from 1889, when the 
entire business portion of the city was laid in ashes, and 
almost every vestige of the early ill-built town was swept 
away. 

The business streets are lined with modern brick and 
stone blocks, elegant in construction and imposing in 
appearance. The city is modern in every respect. It 
has a magnificent system of water-works and sewers, is 



126 ALASKA 

well lighted and has good streets, over which there is a 
complete network of street railways reaching to the dif- 
ferent suburban towns, and to the many beautiful parks 
and lakeside resorts, for which the city is justly noted 
and which are the admiration of the tourist. 

Lake Washington, the pride and delight of Seattleites, 
is a beautiful sheet of water, lying east of the city, about 
twenty-five miles long, and averaging three in width. 
Its shores are dotted with summer residences, and its 
bosom bears numberless pleasure craft of varied form and 
design, while many steamers ply the lake for commercial 
purposes. The lake is reached by four lines of street 
railways, — two cable and two electric. Adjoining Lake 
Washington, and but a short distance north, is Lake 
Union, a smaller but fine lake, surrounded by pleasant 
homes; and still another beautiful sheet of water is Green 
Lake, north-east of the city. All of these lakes contain 
abundance of trout and other fish. Sixty miles away, to 
the south, snow-covered Mt. Rainier raises its lofty head, 
standing hoary and magnificent. It overlooks the great 
inland sea called Puget Sound, and the many cities and 
villages that thrive upon its shores. 

Among the numerous parks within easy distance of 
Seattle are Ravenna, Woodland, Madrona, Leschi, 
Madison Street, and Kinnear, beautiful natural parks 
to which art has lent completing touches. The city has 
excellent schools, and the different religious denom- 
inations are well represented, there being fifty-six places 
of worship in the city. There are also two opera-houses, 
the Seattle Theatre being one of the finest on the Pacific 
coast. The city is undoubtedly the commercial metro- 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA \2J 

polis of the North-west. It is the entrepot for an immense 
stretch of country rich in lumber, coal, and other natural 
resources; the wonderful shipment of lumber being the 
most important industry, although the coal business is 
large and steadily growing. 

Tacoma, called by its citizens the " City of Destiny," 
is situated on Commencement Bay thirty miles south of 
Seattle, and is a point often visited by tourists en route 
to Alaska. Tacoma is an enterprising city of some forty- 
five thousand people, and has had a phenomenal growth. 
It is the second city in size and importance in the State 
and is modern in all respects, having many business enter- 
prises, manufactures, electric and cable railways, schools, 
churches, etc. South of the city, about thirty miles 
distant, rises Mt. Rainier, but in Tacoma the name 
; ' Rainier" is never heard, except from a stranger or 
perhaps a Seattle man. Here it is lovingly referred to 
as " Mt. Tacoma," and the mountain with the dual name 
has been for years the source of much good-natured 
badinage between the two rival cities of Puget Sound, 
as well as a source of amusement and sometimes of per- 
plexity to those not acquainted with the contention over 
the name of the grand old sentinel which overlooks the 
great inland sea. 

A journey of forty miles on the waters of Puget Sound 
brings the vessel to its first stop on the route — at Port 
Townsend — having a population of thirty-five hundred 
people. It is most picturesquely located, having a 
beautiful harbour with water of sufficient width and depth 
to permit the largest ocean vessels to sail up to its 
wharves. The business portion of the town lies princi- 



128 ALASKA 

pally along the water front, the residences occupying 
a level plateau fifty feet or so above, affording a charm- 
ing view of the Sound for many miles. On a commanding 
spot is a beautiful stone customs building just completed 
by the Government at a cost of two hundred thousand 
dollars, and a half-mile farther to the west stands a 
strikingly handsome court-house. This is the last port 
of entry in United States territory until Alaska is reached, 
and all vessels clear here before starting on their long 
voyage to the north. At present the only communica- 
tion with the Puget Sound cities is by several lines of 
steamers each day, but there is good prospect of the rail- 
road, now running but a score or so miles to the south, 
being extended so as to afford direct railroad communi- 
cation with Olympia and the east. 

The Alaska boat usually takes on passengers in greater 
or less numbers at this port, discharging also freight and 
passengers for San Francisco on its return voyage. 

A delightful ride of three hours across the Strait of 
Juan de Fuca, where sometimes a little motion of the 
vessel is felt should wind blow from the ocean, seventy- 
five miles to the west, brings us to Victoria, where a wait 
of an hour or so affords opportunity, for those who are 
desirous of doing so, to step on English soil and admire 
the handsome buildings, neat gardens, and grass plats, 
and to observe the manners of a community whose ev- 
ery appearance stamps them as wholly and essentially 
English. 

Just across the little strip of water, to the north, the 
staff bearing aloft the British flag can be seen, and under 
its shadow small squads of marines are distinguished 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA 1 2 9 

going through a brief guard manoeuvre, while an oc- 
casional blast from a bugle echoes a call across the 
water from the English naval station of the North Pacific 
at Esquimalt. 

When the steamer is again under way the journey to 
Alaska really begins, and the steady puffing of the 
engine and the vibration of the ship are felt for three 
days, while the six hundred and twenty-five miles before 
reaching the first stopping-place in Alaska, twenty miles 
across the boundary, are travelled. 

It is not unusual, however, for the steamer to put in 
for coal at Nanaimo, a town about sixty-five miles north 
of Victoria, on the east side of Vancouver Island. Ex- 
tensive deposits of a superior quality of bituminous coal 
are here located, large quantities of which are shipped to 
San Francisco and Alaska. About two thousand men 
are employed in these mines, and the coal is sold at three 
dollars per ton. Three miles north of Nanaimo, Depart- 
ure Bay is also frequently visited for coal by Alaskan 
steamers. Vancouver Island is about three hundred 
miles long by about fifty wide, and is the largest of the 
many islands on the coast of the North Pacific. It is 
densely wooded throughout, and its sides in many places 
are high and precipitous. The dense growth of timber 
and underbrush is interspersed with many little streams 
of water which, flowing downward, together with the 
deep indentations extending inland, lend beauty and 
variety to the scene. 

One hundred miles through the Gulf of Georgia, be- 
tween Vancouver and Valdez Islands, the narrow pass — 
Seymour Narrows — is reached. It has a tremendous 



130 ALASKA 

current, and at ebb and flood tide is a veritable mael- 
strom, with whose swift-flowing waters the most power- 
ful machinery is unable to cope. At low tide, a shattered 
series of rocky ledges are seen, with torrents of water 
rushing between and over them, and the whirling caul- 
dron is enough to strike terror to the heart of the most 
daring navigator. The passage is always made when the 
tide is nearly full. The captain of an Alaskan steamer on 
one occasion lost control of his vessel here. It reeled and 
staggered as the mad waters lashed against its sides and 
sought to drag it into the boiling sea. It swept around 
in the torrent, but finally drifted into less turbulent 
waters and passed through without encountering any 
damage. 

The United States steamer Saranac was wrecked here 
in 1875. She was caught in the rush of waters, but 
succeeded in reaching the shore of Vancouver Island, 
although, after her officers and crew had safely landed, 
she was drawn into the whirlpool and sank out of sight. 
The United States steamer Wachuset, seven years later, 
had an exciting experience in these waters, but finally 
stemmed the current and passed out, after having a por- 
tion of her keel swept off by the fierce current. Many 
smaller vessels were partially or wholly wrecked before 
the dangers of these Narrows became known. 

Johnstone Strait for fifty-five miles, and Broughton 
Strait for fifteen miles — immediately to the north — both 
pass between land more or less abrupt, and the pictur- 
esque scenery encountered before Seymour Narrows is 
reached is again presented. Johnstone Strait opens into 
Queen Charlotte Sound, which for fifty miles presents 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA 131 

an expanse of water fifteen miles or so across, until it in 
turn meets the waters of Hecate Strait. The broad ex- 
panse of the ocean is seen only while the ship is speeding 
over the thirty-five miles intervening, before she enters 
the landlocked shores of Fitz-Hugh Sound. From here 
to the end of the inland channel at Sitka, the open waters 
of the ocean are not encountered, with the exception of 
fifteen miles at Milbank Sound, and again at Dixon En- 
trance, where, in a south wind, the water may become 
rough for an hour or so, to add, as it were, a little spice 
to the smooth sailing which might otherwise become 
monotonous. 

Beginning here, the route is one continuous chain of 
labyrinthian passages, winding hither and thither through 
narrow defiles, with mountains rising many hundred feet 
on both sides, covered from base to peak with a dense 
coat of firs, whose outline is mirrored in the water below. 
' The Mystic Maze " would be an appropriate name to 
apply to this enchanted route. Ofttimes the prow of 
the ship is headed for what appears to be a mountainous 
barricade, but a sudden turn reveals a continuation of the 
pathway, and an outlet to endless charming nooks and 
glassy waters. 

The first glimpse of Alaska after emerging from Gren- 
ville Channel into the waters of Chatham Sound, which 
separates British from American territory, is Tongas 
Island, the home of a tribe of natives scarcely numbering 
threescore, the remnant of a once numerous tribe. They 
occupy the site of old Fort Tongas which, during the 
first eight years after the acquisition of Alaska, was the 
headquarters of a company of United States troops. No 



132 ALASKA 

opportunity is afforded to examine the country in this 
vicinity save from the deck of the vessel. Thirty-five 
miles farther on Mary Island is sighted. The steamer 
blows a shrill whistle, the speed of the engine is slackened, 
and immediately the Stars and Stripes are hoisted upon 
the staff of the Custom House. As soon as the anchor 
is lowered, the captain goes ashore to execute such papers 
as are necessary to comply with the laws and enable the 
vessel to proceed northward. At this station a deputy 
collector is taken aboard, who makes the trip to Sitka 
and return, and whose business it is to see that no whiskey 
or other contraband goods are landed or taken on board 
the ship. An hour is spent here, when the machinery is 
set in motion and the vessel again swings on its course 
towards New Metlakahtla. This point is off the main 
route some fifteen miles, so it is only when there are 
goods to be discharged that the vessel pauses at one of 
the most interesting points on the whole journey. An 
approach to New Metlakahtla shows, quietly nestling on 
the side of a gentle slope of ground, stretching back from 
a long pebbly beach, two or three hundred houses, many 
of them neatly painted, with a church edifice, large school 
building, store, saw-mill, and salmon-canning establish- 
ment. There is nothing about the appearance of the 
place, until the faces of the residents are seen, to suggest 
that it is the home of the Chim-sy-an tribe of natives, 
whom Mr. Duncan brought from Old Metlakahtla a few 
years ago. Every branch of business pursued by whites, 
in towns of similar size, is here carried on, and the eight 
hundred and fifty or more people are thrifty and con- 
tented. In the chapter on the missionaries of Alaska, a 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA 1 33 

more extended reference is made to Mr. Duncan and the 
people whom he has brought from the degradation of 
savagery to a high state of civilisation. 

Retracing its course to Tongas Narrows, the steamer 
runs alongside of the wharf at Ketchikan. Ten years 
ago this was the site of a salmon cannery which was 
afterwards destroyed by five. It is now a trading-post, 
and salmon are salted in large numbers. Should it be 
the season for the salmon to run, the little stream which 
flows down through the hills to the east of the village 
will be literally filled with the humpback variety. The 
first glimpse of the Alaskan Indian in his native state is 
obtained here. 

A stop of an hour, and the steamer is ready to resume 
its course towards Loring. The twenty-five-mile distance 
is covered in about two hours, and the seat of what was, 
until the past five years, one of the most prolific red sal- 
mon streams in all Alaska is found picturesquely located 
on the western slope of a high mountain. For a number 
of years, from fifteen to twenty thousand cases of red 
salmon were packed each year by this establishment, 
but a system of trapping prevailed by which the fish were 
prevented from ascending to the lake above, and this 
has very nearly exhausted the species. The pack is now 
mostly of the humpback variety. Just back of the can- 
nery, the sparkling waters of Naha Falls come thundering 
down fifty feet or more, and are considered the most 
beautiful of the many encountered along the tourist 
route. 

At nine o'clock on the morning of the twenty-ninth 
day of August, 1889, the side-wheel steamer Ancon, 



134 ALASKA 

which had for several years been engaged in carrying 
tourists to Alaska, in attempting to swing around, settled 
upon a reef within a few yards of the shore and, when 
the tide receded, broke in two and became a total wreck. 
The passengers were taken on their journey a few days 
afterward by another steamer. The accident was the 
means of affording them several days of amusement, 
which they enjoyed to the fullest extent. 

From Loring to Fort Wrangel about ninety miles of 
charming scenery is passed, but no stop is made in that 
interval. Wrangel is the most picturesque as well as 
largest settlement yet visited. It has reached the phase 
in history when it lives only in the glory of " by-gone 
days." For a number of years following the purchase of 
Alaska, it was the winter rendezvous of miners, who were 
taking out thousands and hundreds of thousands of dol- 
lars in placer gold, at Cassiar and other British north-west- 
territory mining camps, but these claims becoming ex- 
hausted, the life and activity of Wrangel also disappeared, 
until the summer of 1898 gave it a temporary boom. 
For a time it was thought that a practicable route to the 
gold fields of the interior would be found via the Stikeen 
River, and this village, which had so long remained dor- 
mant, assumed something of the life and activity of the 
old Cassiar excitement ; the hopes of the old settlers were 
quickly dispelled, however, as the obstacles of river navi- 
gation and the long overland journey became known to 
the thousands, who preferred the perils and hardships of 
the more popular routes via Dyea and Skaguay. 

To-day, a hundred or so whites and two or three hun- 
dred natives occupy, with few exceptions, the same log 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA 1 35 

buildings that were erected during the days when gold 
was almost as plentiful as water. Considerable business, 
however, is done here to-day. There are several stores 
whose customers are principally natives, with whom 
goods are exchanged for furs; a large sawmill; a bonded 
warehouse, through which British goods must pass before 
being shipped into the Territory, up the Stikeen River, 
four miles to the north-east; a Presbyterian church, and 
the offices of the United States Deputy Collector and 
Commissioner. Wrangel pursues the even tenor of its 
way, apparently satisfied with the present, and with 
recollections of its more varied past. This town was 
named for Baron Wrangel, who, in 1 83 1, was the Russian 
governor. Here he constructed a fort, and his troops 
defeated a party in league with the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany, who had encroached upon his territory to traffic 
with the natives. Soon after our acquisition of Alaska 
the fort was garrisoned by two companies of United 
States troops. The arrangement of the plat, with bar- 
racks and officers' quarters standing on either side of the 
square, gives evidence to-day of the time it was occupied 
by these representatives of the American army. Troops 
were withdrawn in 1870, but the garrison was again oc- 
cupied by soldiers from 1875 to 1877, when all the troops 
were permanently withdrawn from Alaska. 

It is usual for steamers going north to remain at 
Wrangel long enough to reach the entrance to Wrangel 
Narrows, twenty-five miles north, at high tide. This is, 
indeed, one of the most interesting portions of the whole 
trip. The passage through the Narrows covers a distance 
of twenty-five miles. At half tide, a hundred-ton vessel 



I36 ALASKA 

drawing six feet of water could not make the passage on ac- 
count of ledges of rocks and boulders stretched across the 
whole passage. ' ' Hard aport ! " ' * Starboard ! " ' ' Steady ! " 
are constantly heard from the captain as the ocean steamer 
is turned close around the buoys that locate the shallow 
water and hidden reefs. While danger need not be ap- 
prehended in case of accident in this passage, for the 
waters do not surge through with the force that causes 
Seymour Narrows to be dreaded, yet the alertness of the 
officers, and the caution exercised in piloting the steamer, 
arrest the attention of the passengers, and give rise to 
expressions of admiration for the skill of the mariners 
who have charge of the craft. Upon emerging from the 
Narrows a glimpse of the first glacier of any note is had. 
It bears the name of Patterson, and looms six thousand 
feet upward, while its serpentine form is seen winding 
over the mountain, and is finally eclipsed by the towering 
magnificence of the Devil's Thumb, pointing heavenward 
at an altitude of nine thousand feet. This, too, is lost to 
view, as the vessel bears westward to Cape Fanshaw, 
where the course is straight away for the metropolis of 
Alaska, seventy miles distant at the head of Gastineau 
Channel. 

On the right, twelve miles before reaching Juneau, 
Taku Inlet opens into the channel. It is one of the 
favourite points of interest for tourists, and the glaciers 
winding down through the mountains are visible for a 
long distance and pour into the inlet with a front of a 
mile or more. 

The metropolis of Alaska, Juneau, is located at the 
base of a mountain that rises almost perpendicularly for 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA 1 37 

nearly three thousand feet, forming a most picturesque 
background to this little city. Juneau is an ideal mining 
camp. Every building in the town, and every inhabit- 
ant, bears the aspect of activity and prosperity peculiar 
to live mining camps. It has but few streets, and they 
are crooked and narrow. 

With but few exceptions, the inhabitants have not 
found time to clear their lots of the stumps or gnarled 
roots that litter, as well as make a rustic ornament for 
every dooryard. But there are a number of handsome 
residences and neat business houses; and a system of 
water-works that draws its supply from the purest of 
mountain streams, and an electric-light plant which for 
four months of the year gives way to the brilliant light 
of the midnight sun, taking its turn again for four months 
in the winter, excepting only a few hours at mid-day. 

All roads lead to Rome, it is said, and all routes to this 
portion of Alaska lead to Juneau. Many Yukon miners 
come here to outfit for their long and hazardous trip into 
the interior; all travellers who visit South-east Alaska, 
whether for business or pleasure, feel that it is necessary 
to visit Juneau, and even the United States Court, if in 
session at Sitka, comes here for three-fourths of its jurors, 
without whom it could not transact business. Juneau is 
rightly called the metropolis. Whether she will retain 
this prestige, remains to be seen. If so, one of two 
things must occur. She must plane down the sides of 
her mountains or erect sky-scraping buildings with elevat- 
ors to accommodate her populace, for nearly every foot 
of available ground is already occupied. 

The population of Juneau numbers about three thou- 



I38 ALASKA 

sand souls; and the enterprise of the people and volume 
of business done are shown by the support given to the 
two newspapers here published. The Mining Record, 
the oldest paper published here, is devoted especially to 
the mining interests of the country. It is a metropoli- 
tan-appearing journal in general make-up and contents, 
and is a credit to the city and its enterprising proprietor. 
The Miner, also an excellent publication, is more local 
in its character, and helps to make a keen rivalry be- 
tween the papers which vie with each other in the pub- 
lication of reliable information concerning this great 
Territory. 

As the steamer turns on its course en route to Sitka, it 
retraces its way for twelve miles, and on the right, two 
miles from Juneau, passes the works which constitute the 
great Treadwell mine. Dense columns of smoke are seen 
issuing from the chlorination works which are here burn- 
ing that part of the ore which the batteries have not been 
able to separate from the gold. Its poisonous vapours 
that the humid atmosphere has crowded down the moun- 
tain sides have bleached the timber growing there almost 
as white as the ragged and jagged ledges laid bare by the 
incessant explosions of dynamite that occur in this mine 
day and night from one year's end to another. 

At the end of Douglas Island the ship's prow is turned 
northward towards Lynn Canal; but which arm it as- 
cends, whether Chilkoot or Chilkat Inlet, depends upon 
the nature of the business calling the vessel thither. If 
to Chilkoot, a view is afforded of the new and thriving 
town of Skaguay, and a little farther on, its rival, Dyea, 
slumbers at the base of the mountains over which so 



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PICTURESQUE ALASKA 1 39 

many thousands of eager miners encountered hardships 
and privations during the past year, in their eager quest 
for gold in the valley of the Yukon. 

The neat and attractive buildings passed on the left- 
hand side journeying towards Skaguay, are those belong- 
ing to the Presbyterian Mission, known as Haynes. 

If the steamer has taken the Chilkat Inlet, at the head 
of navigation, to the right hand is the town of Chilkat, 
whose location is marked by a cannery, store, and a few 
other buildings. Farther to the left is the route located 
by Mr. Jack Dalton, who discovered a way into the 
interior of Alaska, whence the Yukon River may be 
reached over a country having a gradual ascent and de- 
scent, with no high mountains to interfere, thus forming 
what is thought to be a natural route for the construction 
of a railroad into the interior. 

As the ship turns about to resume her course, Davidson 
Glacier appears on the right. This is the first good view 
of a glacier yet had, and it looks as if a mighty river, 
winding down from the mountain, had suddenly con- 
gealed while pouring its torrents into the sea below. 
Davidson Glacier has its head a few miles to the west, 
and is a spur of a series of glaciers that form the frigid 
bulwarks of ice in Glacier Bay, whose fronts rise perpen- 
dicularly from the water. The Davidson, however, 
slopes gradually down, leaving a moraine covered with 
low willow and alder trees. 

A distance of sixty miles to the south is made before 
the ship's course is changed into Icy Strait, and is now 
among floating ice, which may be encountered in such 
quantities as to impede the progress of the ship through 



140 ALASKA 

the entrance into the bay. The prows of all the vessels 
are protected with heavy timbers, and one experiences 
the shock caused by the crashing of the vessel into the 
bergs and floating ice as it pursues its course. When 
within the bay, it is in a sea of floating ice and the ship 
dodges its way through the heavy " pack " past Wil- 
loughby Island, until it comes to anchor within two miles 
of the front of the celebrated Muir Glacier. The island 
just referred to is named after " Prof." Willoughby, one 
of the early pioneers of California. As a boy he was in 
the vanguard of the " forty-niners " ; picked up nuggets 
as large as walnuts at Suter's Mill with Marshall; moved 
along into Fraser River, Cariboo, and Cassiar mining 
camps; and was among the early placer miners in the 
camps of South-east Alaska. He piloted the first vessel 
into Glacier Bay, and was there when Professor Muir 
made his first investigation of the wonderful river of ice 
that bears his name. 

Willoughby is a typical frontiersman. He is said to 
have made more extensive explorations in South-east 
Alaska than any other man, and to have found more 
good mineral deposits than he knows what to do with. 
His claims on Admiralty Island are among the most 
prominent quartz locations in the Territory, and the sale 
of this property will probably bring him more money 
than he will be able to spend. 

The author's first visit to Alaska was in the spring of 
1889, and was in the interest of newspapers. He was 
looking for just such a person as Willoughby to furnish 
him information about the country. This acquaintance 
supplied him with means for building up a series of let- 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA 141 

ters upon a subject that made them the most profitable 
newspaper articles he ever wrote, and which appeared in 
many of the leading papers of the country. One of 
these stories, entitled " The Silent City," helped to make 
Glacier Bay more noted, brought thousands of dollars to 
the person who claimed to have photographed a " mirage 
of an unknown city," and caused a vast amount of dis- 
cussion on the subject of mirages. Many persons pro- 
nounced it a " fake," others a good joke, while some 
looked upon it in the light of a phenomenon that would 
reasonably occur on account of the peculiar condition of 
the atmosphere prevailing in this locality. 

If the author thought the story a monstrous and ridicu- 
lous joke, gratitude to the man who furnished him with 
the sinews from which to weave the interesting tale would 
prevent his denouncing it as such. Two years previous 
to his arrival at Juneau, Willoughby had been exhibiting 
a negative of a picture which he said he had succeeded in 
taking of a city which appeared above the face of the 
glacier in the longest days of each year, and which was 
brought to his attention by the natives, who called it the 
silent city. He procured a camera, and in three success- 
ive years made the journey in a canoe with natives, and 
each time was able to make an exposure, but the plate 
exposed the third year proved upon development to be 
the only one that contained a picture of the city. It was 
a weird-looking negative and, contemplating it while 
Willoughby told the story with the utmost earnestness 
and sincerity, one could not but be interested and in- 
clined to believe it to be true. He said that the city 
always appeared as if suspended in the air, just in front 



142 ALASKA 

of the Fairweather range of mountains. The atmos- 
phere was so clear that the peaks many miles to the 
north were distinctly seen, and every ridge and wallow 
and curve of the icy crust that enveloped them could not 
have been more clearly defined had they been but a 
stone's throw away. That while asleep in his tent one 
morning, a native called to him excitedly to " get up " ; 
and upon looking to the north he saw a strange-looking 
object hanging over the sides of the mountain, and fol- 
lowing the direction of a stream or glow of light which 
seemed to radiate from the range squarely down upon 
the glaciers at the head of the bay. Gradually it became 
more distinct, and soon assumed the appearance of a city 
of immense proportions, stretching out into the distance 
until its farthermost limits were lost to view. The style 
of architecture was new to him. Buildings of massive 
dimensions extended in solid and unbroken blocks as far 
as the eye could reach. The solemn walls of cathedrals 
arose almost to the skies, and his imagination revelled in 
silvery music that was wafted out through the openings 
of gorgeously painted windows. The entire limits of the 
city were confined within a halo of light, dense, yet trans- 
parent, pouring its soft glow upon roof and wall and win- 
dow in glorious transformation. To the right and left a 
range of mountains, covered with the garb of winter, 
formed the background. Again, he seemed to hear the 
bells from the steeples of a hundred churches mingling 
sweet and happy melody ; yet, within the whole length 
and breadth of this boundless city, not one soul could be 
seen. Not even a shadow darkened the light for an in- 
stant. All was silent as the grave, when suddenly the 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA I43 

vision began to move away. Its glories and grandeur 
lured him with a fascination which he could not resist. 
But, as he walked forward, it seemed to recede with even 
pace. Gradually, though he quickened his steps to get 
within the silent portals before it was too late, it was 
wafted into space and finally lost to view. 

In the summer of 1889, the author accompanied Wil- 
loughby to Glacier Bay, and spent six weeks in exploring 
the glaciers and surrounding country. He was anxious 
to see the spot where Willoughby claimed to have wit- 
nessed this wonderful sight, although he feels free to say 
he did not live in very high expectations of gazing upon 
the silent city. One day we ascended the side of a 
mountain to a level space affording a glorious view of 
the whole bay. Willoughby led the way to a pile of 
rocks, laid carefully one upon another to a height of per- 
haps five feet. Slowly he commenced to throw off rock 
after rock until an opening was made in the centre, and, 
inserting his arm, he drew out what appeared to be a 
scroll or book made from several leaves of birch bark. It 
was badly mildewed, and upon unrolling it a pencil fell 
to the ground. The half-dozen pages looked bright, 
however, and contained a record stating that the object 
of three trips made to this locality, in as many different 
years, was to secure a photograph of the city. 

During the six weeks the author spent with Willough- 
by, the relations between them in camp and in their 
travels were such as to encourage an exchange of confid- 
ences on many subjects, and although the subjects of 
1 The Silent City " and mirages were often referred to, 
Willoughby never by word or implication gave him any 



144 ALASKA 

reason to think that his story was other than a true one. 

The city was finally identified as Bristol, England. In 
order for it to have appeared in the manner claimed, it 
must have been reflected a distance of several thousand 
miles. 

And now, after a lapse of ten years, Alaska's " Silent 
City " has emerged once more from the mysterious 
shadowland and revealed itself to five members of the 
party who accompanied Prince Luigi in his ascent of Mt. 
St. Elias in July, 1897. 

One of the party, Mr. C. W. Thornton of Seattle, in 
his note-book remarked that " it required no effort of the 
imagination to liken it to a city, but was so distinct and 
plain that it required instead faith to believe that it was 
not in reality a city." 

This party, however, viewed the effect from Malaspina 
Glacier, one hundred miles to the west of Muir Glacier, 
and their enthusiastic description lends reality to our 
vision of " The Silent City." 

The awful grandeur of Muir Glacier is inexpressible, 
whether viewed while walking on its top among the thou- 
sands of seams and crevasses that descend in yawning 
chasms to interminable depths, or looking at it from the 
deck of our vessel. If viewed while standing close to 
the front, the awful, jagged surface is seen extending two 
miles across, rising in pinnacles and towers two hundred 
and fifty feet high. Is it any wonder that, when gazing 
at this spectacle, one is lost in awe as he sees a solid body 
of ice winding for many miles through mountain gorges, 
breaking off in irregular blocks, many of them a hundred 
feet square, and tumbling into the water below ? Is it 



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PICTURESQUE ALASKA 1 45 

any wonder that the crash and thundering echo can be 
heard for miles ? Is it any wonder that the bottom of 
this grand inland sea is a hundred fathoms or more deep, 
when such huge sections of ice, falling from dizzy heights, 
send the spray nearly to the top of the glacier as they go 
ploughing onward towards the sea ? 

The author has seen a single block of ice measuring at 
least four hundred feet square, with forty feet extending 
above the water, silently moving down the bay. Fresh- 
water ice is said to float with seven-eighths below the 
surface, so in this instance the berg must have been three 
hundred and twenty feet thick. 

Among glaciers, nature is seen in its grandest, most 
awful, and sullen mood. The continual caving leaves the 
glaciers with lacerated fronts that assume the shape of 
obelisks, pinnacles, and turreted roofs of castles, set with 
a background of blue; when touched with the rays of the 
sun, they send back the hues of the topaz, diamond, and 
sapphire in sparkling scintillations. 

How many years shall elapse before the last of the 
glaciers disappears from the bay can hardly be calculated, 
but they are slowly receding and will, before many years, 
become a wonder of the past. There are ten other living 
glaciers as large as the Muir in the bay, besides a number 
of smaller ones, and at the extreme northern end is one 
nearly as large again as the Muir. On the coast 250 
miles west from Sitka, the great Malaspina Glacier pre- 
sents a front of over twenty-five miles to the sea. A few 
miles farther west they almost entirely disappear, and are 
only found in a few localities just back from the coast. 

The day spent in Glacier Bay ends only too quickly, 



I46 ALASKA 

but the ship must travel one hundred and fifty miles 
farther before reaching the terminus of the route, at 
Sitka. Nearly one hundred miles of this course is due 
south, then the ship turns to feel its way for thirty miles 
in Peril Strait. This stretch of water is, as the name im- 
plies, a difficult and dangerous passage, and is attempted 
only in pleasant weather. The water surges and rushes 
at the rate of six or eight knots an hour, and like Sey- 
mour Narrows, is run only at high slack, or between that 
and high water. Its path is strewn with rocks and reefs, 
and its swiftest water points are designated as Upper and 
Lower Rapids. At least two officers of the ship are always 
on the bridge, for here, as everywhere throughout the 
long journey through the inland waters, their keen vigil- 
ance is never for a moment relaxed. 

Twenty miles more and the booming of the cannon 
from the deck of the steamer warns the passengers that 
another port is reached. Its sullen roar echoes among 
the hills and announces to the inhabitants that another 
" steamer day " is at hand. Another messenger from 
civilisation has knocked at their doors, bringing anxiously 
looked-for tidings from home and friends to those who, 
from choice or circumstance, have found an abiding-place 
upon our most remote frontier. 

Sitka became the capital of Russian America under the 
administration of Alexander Baranoff, who served as 
Governor of the Russian colonies from July 27, 1791, 
until January 11, 18 18, his predecessor, the first Governor, 
having served from August 3, 1784, until July 27, 1791. 
The seat of Government at that time was at Kadiak, 
Kadiak Island, five hundred miles west of Sitka. 




CREVASSE ON TOP OF MUIR GLACIER. 

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY LA ROCHE, SEATTLE, WASH. 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA 1 47 

The especial point upon which the interest of the tour- 
ist centred in Sitka was Baranoff Castle, built by the 
Governor in 1813. It was situated on the top of a hill 
and commanded a view of the broad expanse of the ocean 
and of the beautiful harbour, which is studded with many 
small islands covered with the freshest of evergreen trees 
and a profusion of the loveliest and brightest verdure. 
The channels between these islands admit of the passage 
of the largest ocean steamers, and on a sunshiny day the 
view is most charming. 

The castle, an imposing structure, built of logs of huge 
dimensions, was divided into capacious rooms. On one 
side was a banquet hall running the whole length of the 
building, and here, during the occupancy of the Russians, 
many wild scenes of revelry were enacted. In order to 
preserve this structure from decay, our Government ex- 
pended $11,000 five years ago, but just after the work 
was completed it took fire through some mysterious cause 
and was burned to the ground. 

Many stories are told, some of them replete with wild 
romance and crime, of early days when Russian barons 
and beautiful princesses passed days and nights within 
the castle in joyous living. It is said that Olga Arbuzoff, 
a niece of Governor Mooraveff, committed suicide by 
thrusting a dagger into her heart on the fifth day of 
March, 1826, the very day of her marriage to Count 
Nicholas VassilefL The count was old, ugly, and of 
coarse morals, and the lovely princess very naturally 
hated him. Her uncle, however, compelled her to marry 
him, though she insisted that she would take her life if 
he persisted in his demands. The princess was very 



143 



ALASKA 



much in love with a midshipman named Demetrius 
Davidoff, who was young, handsome, and an accom- 
plished gentleman, and whom the governor, when he 
found they were in love with each other, sent away on a 
six months' cruise. In the meantime the nuptials be- 
tween the princess and the count were hurried to a con- 
summation. The very night of the wedding the young 
lover returned and went immediately to the castle. As 




BARANOFF CASTLE. 



soon as the princess saw him she uttered a cry, and rush- 
ing into his arms, snatched his dagger from its sheath and 
plunging it into her breast, fell to the floor dead. The 
horror-stricken youth immediately drove it into his own 
heart and fell dead by the side of his sweetheart. The 
following day they were both buried in the same grave. 
From one of the windows in the banquet hall of the 
castle, their last resting-place was pointed out, marked by 
a simple Greek cross standing at the head of the mound. 



PICTURESQUE ALASKA 1 49 

The white population of Sitka does not exceed five 
hundred, including the actual residents, territorial offi- 
cials, and members of the naval force here stationed. 
The natives number about nine hundred and occupy a 
portion of the town known as the " ranche. " 

The Greek church, with its dome painted blue and 
chime of bells, stands at the head of the street. It is a 
striking and rather imposing structure, but its most in- 
teresting feature is found inside. The altar decorations 
and the doors separating the inner sanctuary from the 
body of the church are truly gorgeous. The paintings of 
the Madonna and other biblical figures are superbly set 
in silver and gold. Many of the natives are members of 
this church, and the ceremonies are of an interesting and 
unusual character, the congregation standing and kneeling 
alternately during the service. 

About a half mile south, the Sitka industrial school is 
located. It is an institution where native children are 
taken in youth and taught various trades. It is sup- 
ported by the Presbyterian Missionary Society, the gen- 
eral government assisting in the expense of maintaining it. 

One of the most interesting places to the tourist at the 
Alaskan capital is the Museum, near the industrial school, 
containing one of the largest collections of Alaskan curios 
in the United States. 

The Alaskan is the oldest paper in the Territory, and 
being published at the capital is much sought after by 
people abroad, for information regarding the progress of 
the Territory. 

Looking across the bay at Sitka to the north, Mt. 
Edgecombe, an extinct volcano, is plainly seen with the 



150 ALASKA 

mouth of the crater clearly defined at the summit. An 
excursion to the mountain and into the crater, five hun- 
dred feet deep, forms a very interesting trip, but can 
hardly be made during the one day's wait of the steamer. 
The ascent of Mt. Verstovoi, which forms a beautiful 
background to this picturesque town, can be accomplished 
in two or three hours, and the view obtained from the 
summit well repays one for the effort. 

From the summit of Mt. Verstovoi, the eye follows the 
stretch of the great unknown country far to the westward. 
The tourist has never visited it, and as the steamer floats 
out from the peaceful Sitka harbour " homeward bound," 
the " far off unknown " is seen to fade away in solemn 
beauty. 

Farther to the west, the Malaspina Glacier appears 
on the Pacific, spanning the coast with an icy bulwark at 
the base of Mt. St. Elias. This hoary peak rears its 
crown of snow 18,000 feet towards the sky, a regal senti- 
nel, guarding the rugged coast from the rushing waters 
of the mighty Pacific; and still beyond, one is ushered 
into the presence of the burning craters of the Aleutian 
Archipelago ; nor even here do the glories end, for they 
extend to the very threshold of the bleak, unknown 
Arctic waste ; there the mysteries of land give place to 
the ever-changing tints and hues of most gorgeous twi- 
light, fringed by the scintillating rays of nature's grandest 
panorama, the northern aurora. 

By and by this region will be opened up to the pleasure 
seeker, when it will afford a fitting climax to a tour of the 
grandest scenic route in the world, that which threads 
the mystic mazes between Puget Sound and Sitka. 



CHAPTER XII 

ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 

HOW to reach the gold-fields of the Yukon and its 
numerous tributaries is a question of great im- 
portance. 

The most natural rendezvous on the Pacific coast for 
all persons embarking to Alaska, is Seattle, State of 
Washington. 

The all-water route is direct from Seattle to St. 
Michaels, eighty-five miles from the mouth of the 
Yukon, via ocean steamers, and from St. Michaels up 
the river by light-draft vessels which operate there. 
From Seattle also, there is constant water communication 
by the steamers of the numerous transportation com- 
panies with the already celebrated trails leading by the 
overland routes through Chilkoot and White Passes — 
(the former known as the Dyea, the latter as the Skaguay 
trail) — on, up, and over to the Klondike and the many 
other tributaries of the Yukon. 

Dyea or Chilkoot Pass Route 

The Dyea trail is preferable to all others for the inward 
journey. The distance from salt water to the lakes or 

151 



152 ALASKA 

headwaters of the Yukon River over this trail is about 
twenty-seven miles. 

The most favourable time for going into the interior is 
before the snow melts from the mountains, which does 
not occur until about the middle of April. The journey 
over what is known as the Summit is better accomplished 
by hauling supplies on sleds. After the Summit is 
passed, if the journey is continued before the ice breaks 
up, long distances may often be made by means of sails 
raised on improvised masts on the sleds. 

After the ice has disappeared, canoes may be used for 
the first six miles after leaving Dyea. From this point 
the route lies through what is known as the Canyon. 
Quite a gradual ascent is made until Sheep Camp, which 
has become a favourite rendezvous for miners, is reached. 
Here a rest is taken to await weather suitable for the 
passage over the Summit, six miles farther up the rugged 
sides of the mountain, and the most difficult and tedious 
part of the journey. Two miles before reaching the 
Summit, is a level tract of about an acre known as the 
Scales. This is the point where the Indian packers for- 
merly weighed the goods to be taken over the Summit. 

From the Summit to the head of Lake Lindeman, 
nine miles must be travelled. It is down grade and prac- 
tically easy to accomplish with snow on the ground, but 
when bare, it is quite difficult on account of rocks and 
boulders. So much so in fact, that pack-horses cannot 
be used to advantage except for the last two miles of the 
distance. The route is easily followed by keeping in the 
Canyon. 

Lying between the Summit and Lake Lindeman are 




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ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 53 

three small lakes, known respectively as Crater, Long, 
and Deep Lakes, which are utilised in summer in ferrying 
miners' outfits. The charge for ferrying is one cent per 
pound over each lake, the miner portaging his own goods 
between them. 

At Lake Lindeman the overland portion of the Dyea 
trail terminates. It was the only route used to any ex- 
tent for many years, the Indians having always followed 
it and packed over it in preference to all others. Many 
Indians found employment packing outfits over the trail 
at prices ranging from fifteen to thirty-eight cents per 
pound, the latter figure representing the maximum price 
paid in the rush during the summer of 1898. But this 
expensive item was reduced during the season, by two 
cable tramways over the Summit from the Scales to 
Crater Lake, a distance of three miles. 

The overland portion of the Yukon journey having 
been accomplished, the first of the chain of lakes forming 
the headwaters of the Yukon is Lake Lindeman. 

The timber in this locality is sparse and of poor quality 
for boat-building. If rafts are built, they should be con- 
structed in a manner that will afford protection from 
water a foot or more above the sides. Otherwise the sup- 
plies are liable to be damaged unless at the outset of the 
journey they have been carefully enclosed in oilskin 
sacks. 

From the head of Lake Lindeman on both sides to 
Lake Bennett, the general character of the country is 
mountainous with narrow bench land skirting the shore. 
The distance across Lake Lindeman is nearly five miles, 
and from the foot of this lake a portage of fifty yards is 



154 ALASKA 

made of the One Mile River to Lake Bennett, because 
this portion of the stream is very swift and crooked and 
full of rocks, making boat passage difficult and dangerous. 

At the head of Lake Bennett, there are high mountains 
on both sides, but they begin to flatten out towards the 
foot of the lake. This lake is twenty-four miles long. 
By ascending a river, which enters the lake from the 
west, timber suitable for boat-building is to be found, and 
a small saw-mill is in operation. The mill turns out boats 
for sale. In ordinary seasons the prices range from $75 
to $150 for boats, but prices go up when labour and logs 
become scarce. During the season just closed it was an 
every-day occurrence for boats to sell for $150 and up- 
wards. 

Flat-bottomed boats with flaring sides are generally 
built, because this style is more readily handled in the 
swift water which will be encountered farther along the 
route, and because of the greater carrying capacity. No 
boat should be less than twenty-six feet long, and thirty 
feet is a more desirable length, because such pass the 
swift places more safely and easily. 

In the spring while the ice yet remains on the lakes, 
the boat and outfit may be loaded upon sledges and drawn 
for many miles. Some sled to the lower end of Lake. Le 
Barge where they build their boats and await the break- 
ing up of the ice in the river. Excellent timber is found 
here. When the ice breaks up at this point, it goes out 
quickly, and the journey down the river may begin at 
once. The ice in the lakes above will remain much 
longer. Thus the object in sledging to this point is 
readily seen. 




YUKON MINERS SHEDDING OVER ROUTE. 

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY WINTER & POND, JUNEAU, ALASKA. 



ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 55 

If the wait for the ice to go out is at Lake Bennett, 
the right shore of the lake should be followed until Three 
Mile River is reached. At this river, which is the con- 
necting water between Lakes Bennett and Tagish, a trail 
once used by a band of cariboo can be traced along the 
foothills for a distance of two miles, giving to it the name 
of Cariboo Crossing. Follow the main channel of Three 
Mile River to the head of Tagish Lake, and then keep 
the left-hand shore to the foot, a distance of nineteen 
miles. 

Little Windy Arm, located at the upper end of Tagish 
Lake, and Big Windy Arm at the lower end are somewhat 
dangerous places to cross, as strong winds are liable to 
spring up suddenly, especially during the fall season. It 
is safer then to make the crossing before nine o'clock in 
the morning, as the winds are always quieter in the early 
hours of the day. 

At Tagish Lake is stationed a Canadian customs officer 
to whom import duties on miners' outfits must be paid. 
Canadian duties average from twenty-five to thirty per 
cent, ad valorem. The officer has more or less discretion- 
ary powers. During last season, under instructions from 
his Government, the duties were very light, averaging 
but seven dollars to twelve dollars per outfit. The officer 
is assisted by a detachment of mounted police. 

Lake Marsh is connected with Tagish Lake by a wide 
river with a slow current, whose banks are bordered by 
low-lying slopes, timbered with Cottonwood and white 
spruce. The distance is six miles, and in some places 
the water is very shallow. The traveller should follow 
the left bank of Lake Marsh into the river connecting 



156 . ALASKA ■ 

this with Lake Le Barge, keeping on the right-hand 
side, to the head of the Canyon twenty-five miles below. 
If a man is a skilful navigator he can run his boat through 
the Canyon, a distance of three-fourths of a mile, and 
land on the right-hand side. If not, he had better make 
a portage. From this point he should follow the left- 
hand side two miles to the head of White Horse Rapids 
and land on the left-hand side. Great caution should be 
exercised in reaching the point where the landing is made 
this side of the White Horse. Through the White Horse 
one-half mile, in a low stage of water, the boat can be 
dropped with a line, but if the water is high, a portage 
of about one hundred yards must be made, and on the 
last pitch of the Canyon another portage of about one 
hundred feet will be necessary. From this point there is 
an open river to Lake Le Barge. 

From the head to the foot of Lake Le Barge is a dis- 
tance of about thirty-one miles averaging five miles in 
width. The boat should be headed straight for an island 
near the centre of the lake, and, if the weather is favour- 
able, cross from the island to the right-hand side of the 
lake. From the island, the traveller should cross to the 
left-hand side of the lake, if windy, and it is better to 
follow close to the shore. From the foot of Lake Le 
Barge to the mouth of the Hootalinqua River, extreme 
caution should be observed in navigating Thirty Mile 
River, as the water is very swift and in places barely 
covers dangerous rocks. From this point it is clear 
sailing for one hundred and thirty-three miles to Five 
Fingers, so called because of five columns of rock which 
partly obstruct the river, and whose outline resembles 







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YUKON MINERS PACKING OVER ROUTE. 

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY WINTER & POND, JUNEAU, ALA8KA. 



ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 57 

the fingers of the human hand. Five or six miles before 
reaching Five Fingers, the current becomes much swifter 
and high hills hug the shore. The right-hand bank 
should be followed closely, otherwise the bend curves so 
sharply that Five Fingers would be reached before a 
landing could be effected. This landing should be made 
twenty yards above Five Fingers in an eddy, and if the 
boat is heavily laden, it should be lightened before at- 
tempting to pass; the run should then be made, landing 
on the right-hand side. 

Following the right-hand shore for about five miles, 
Rink Rapids, one and one-half miles in length, caused by 
a chain of rocks extending nearly across the river, are 
reached. The right-hand side or east shore must be fol- 
lowed closely all the way. From this point, the river is 
easy to navigate to its mouth. About fifty-five miles 
below the foot of Rink Rapids is old Fort Selkirk. It is 
situated near the confluence of Pelly and Lewes Rivers, 
which unite to form the Yukon River. This is a winter 
port for steamboats plying on the Yukon and its tribu- 
taries. The fort was pillaged and burned by the coast 
Indians in 1853, and nothing remains but the ruins of the 
chimneys. 

From old Fort Selkirk the river has a uniform width, 
contains many islands, and the country through which it 
runs is well timbered for some distance. White River, a 
large stream having a current of ten or twelve miles an 
hour, comes roaring down from the west ninety-five miles 
below Selkirk. The river gets its name from the appear- 
ance of its waters, which are of a muddy white hue. It 
is supposed to have its source in a number of high moun- 



158 ALASKA 

tains and lakes to the west. Near its source, the Indians 
say, there is an active volcano which they call Smoky 
Mountain. 

The Yukon rapidly widens after being joined by White 
River, at which point it is a mile across; islands dot its 
surface at frequent intervals, and the valley becomes 
broader. Ten miles below White River, Stewart River 
enters from the east. Its waters, dark and deep, are 
bordered by rugged hills which here and there assume 
the proportion of mountains. Miners are found on this 
river and its numerous tributaries and gulches, many of 
which are unprospected. It is probably six hundred 
miles in length. 

About seventy miles below the mouth of Stewart 
River, Sixty Mile Creek comes in from the west. It has 
a trading post and saw-mill, and prior to the discoveries 
on the Klondike was a winter rendezvous for miners. 
The creek has a swift current and is filled with rapids, 
and is therefore not easy of ascent. Below Sixty Mile 
Creek, the Yukon becomes placid and the number of 
islands increases. The valley narrows and the hills are 
more abrupt. 

From Sixty Mile Creek to the mouth of the Klondike, 
the distance is sixty-one miles. Here is located the town 
of Dawson City, which is the gateway to the Klondike 
mines on the tributary streams above. As soon as the 
marvellous gold discoveries became known to the miners 
of the other camps, the towns of Forty Mile and Circle 
City were nearly deserted. Dawson City sprang into life 
as the metropolis of the great Yukon basin, and in a few 
weeks became a typical western mining camp in every- 




YUKON MINERS AND NATIVES PACKING OVER ROUTE. 
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY WINTER & POND, JUNEAU, ALASKA. 



ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 59 

thing except the lawless element. The town, being 
within the boundary of North-west Territory, is practically 
ruled by the Gold Commissioner of that province. His 
word is law to the extent that he decides and settles all 
disputes, from the ownership of million-dollar mining 
claims down to who shall have the right to cut the wood 
from a square rod of ground. His rulings are quick and 
to the point. There is no mining license issued at Daw- 
son City. In its place a fee of $15 must be paid when a 
claim is recorded, making the title good for the first year. 
This the Gold Commissioner collects, as well as all subse- 
quent fees. No person is permitted to cut grass for his 
pony, spade the ground for a garden, or chop down trees 
for logs or wood, or undertake any enterprise, large or 
small, without first paying a fee and securing a permit. 

The mounted police rule the camp with a hand of iron. 
No riots ever threaten and the lawless element is never 
permitted to get a footing. The police enforce the wishes 
of the Provincial Government as directly expressed by the 
Gold Commissioner. 

Once at Dawson, the new arrival must determine his 
course for fortune seeking. He may secure work at 
wages ranging from $5 to $12 per day, or he may pene- 
trate the unexplored gulches in search of a " strike " of 
his own. And here it may be well for the newcomer to 
understand that if he expects to work at one of the 
mines, it would be well for him to carry his own food, for 
the scarcity of provisions at times has compelled the 
owners of claims to hire men with the understanding 
that they board themselves, and this condition is liable 
to prevail at any time in the mining camps of Alaska. 



l6o ALASKA 

If the prospector is successful in discovering a new 

creek, ' ' he is entitled to two claims, the one on which the 
discovery is located and the next one to it. Otherwise he 
is entitled to but one claim by location in a single district. 

Steamers do not start from Seattle until June 1st at 
the earliest, and Dawson cannot be reached before the 
middle of July. As the working season opens about the 
1st of June at the mines, it will be seen that six weeks of 
the short season, when prospecting can be done, is lost 
in going via St. Michaels. 

Continuing the journey down the Yukon from Daw- 
son, at the mouth of Forty Mile Creek, located almost 
within the shadow of the Arctic Circle, is the Alaska 
Commercial Company's station, Forty Mile. The town 
has a population of about five or six hundred, and be- 
sides the Alaska Commercial Company's store, which at 
the opening of the season carries a stock of goods valued 
at $125,000 or more, there are restaurants, a billiard- 
hall, saloons, an opera-house, barber-shops, and the town 
boasts of the finest residence in a region covering three 
hundred thousand square miles of territory. It is a two- 
story building, owned by Joseph Cooper, an old-time 
Colorado miner, and cost $3000. 

" This town on the Yukon," says a recent writer, "is an 
ideal '49 mining camp; its saloons, gambling houses, concert 
halls, etc., give it an air of bustling activity, from which, 
however, the element of outlawry is almost entirely eliminated. 
Miners' law prevails and justice is fairly and impartially ad- 
ministered. The entire valley bears an enviable reputation 
for peace and morality. Simple but effective self-adopted 
rules of government are found amply sufficient to insure order, 
and they are universally respected." 







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ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR l6l 

About three-fourths of a mile below Forty Mile, is a 
rival town named after Cudahy, so well known through- 
out the country as a packer of meats, and who is a mem- 
ber of the North American Trading and Transportation 
Company. This post was established in the summer of 
1892. The same company has established a number of 
posts at different points on the river, some of which had 
not heretofore been covered by the Alaska Commercial 
Company. 

About one hundred and seventy miles from Forty Mile, 
to the west, the Yukon flats are encountered, and just 
within them is located the mining camp of Circle City, 
which was founded in the fall of 1894. It is the dis- 
tributing point for the vast regions surrounding Birch 
Creek, which flows into the Yukon two hundred and 
twenty-five miles below. Circle City has been platted 
into streets, and a recording office for this district is 
located here. Six miles westward from Circle City, a 
portage of six miles carries the traveller to the headwa- 
ters of Birch Creek, nearly two hundred miles above 
its mouth. 

The territory drained by the Yukon River in every 
direction for three or four hundred miles in this region is 
low country, called the Yukon flats. These flats, the 
extent of which is not known, are supposed by miners 
and others to have at one time formed the bed of a vast 
lake. 

Munook Creek, upon which gold was first discovered, 
in 1897, enters the Yukon below Fort Yukon. It is the 
next gold-bearing creek of importance below the mouth 
of Birch Creek. 



1 62 ALASKA 

The indications of rich deposits in the Munook district 
are strong, and several claims have yielded excellent re- 
sults. The coming season's clean-up will have to be 
known, however, before it can be determined whether 
or not it is as rich as some of its enthusiastic claim-owners 
bespeak for it. 

The principal tributary of the Yukon below Birch 
Creek is the Tanana River, probably eight hundred 
miles in length, and having a number of other streams of 
considerable size flowing into it. The Tanana drains 
the country stretching from the head of the river, and 
the Yukon to the White River on the south. The 
Tanana River has been very slightly explored, and little 
is known of it or of the natives who inhabit its banks. 
They are, however, reported by the few venturesome 
prospectors who have made their way into this section, 
to be rather ill-disposed towards the whites invading 
their territory. 

Nuklukyeto is located at the junction of the Tozikakat 
River with the Yukon, where the Alaska Commercial 
Company has a trading post which was established a 
number of years ago. 

About two hundred and fifty miles below the Tanana, 
the waters of the Koyukuk River join the Yukon, from 
the north. Below the Koyukuk River, the only streams 
of any importance that empty into the Yukon, are the 
Innoko, coming in from the south, and the Anvik, about 
thirty miles farther down, which enters from the north. 

The only station at which the ocean steamers, having 
freight or passengers for the upper Yukon, land, is 
St. Michaels. This has been the principal trading post 




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ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 63 

of the Alaska Commercial Company and the outfitting 
post for its station on the river for the past thirty years. 
It is located about eighty-five miles to the north of the 
usual entrance to the Yukon, on what is known as St. 
Michaels Island. 

The question is often asked why a location for a town 
has not been made nearer the mouth of the river, thus 
obviating the necessity of the river boats steaming into 
the open waters of Bering Sea to take on their freight. 
So far as known, there is not a suitable location nearer 
the mouth of the river that the high water, on the break- 
ing of the ice in the spring, does not overflow. The 
Yukon is very shallow at its mouths, eight feet being 
the greatest depth found. 

All sorts of rumours have been afloat during the past 
season to the effect that a new channel had been dis- 
covered through which a vessel drawing twelve feet of 
water could safely enter and then proceed for several 
miles up the river. While there may be some truth to 
this, we are not prepared to accept it, for up to the close 
of navigation last fall, such a channel had not been 
located. The Alaska Commercial Company attempted 
to find such a channel during several different seasons 
without success. 

The ice passes out of the Yukon and leaves it free for 
navigation about the middle of June, but it does not 
clear for an approach to St. Michaels until several days 
later. 

St. Michaels is what might be termed a " summer 
town/' Until last year, its population for nine months 
of the year consisted of about one hundred and fifty 



164 ALASKA 

natives and a score or so of whites. When navigation 
opened in the summer, missionaries and traders from 
long distances congregated here, and until the last 
steamer departed for the States, about the middle of 
September, Uncle Sam's most remote town presented 
unusual scenes of life and activity. 

With the excitement attending the discovery of gold 
on the Klondike, St. Michaels became at once conspicu- 
ous as the objective point for the thousand and one 
steamship and transportation companies that sprang up 
like mushrooms in the night. 

On October 27, 1897, an order was issued by the Sec- 
retary of War, setting aside St. Michaels as a military 
post, and the country for a radius of twenty-five miles 
therefrom as a Government reservation. 

During the past season the Alaska Commercial Com- 
pany made extensive improvements here, erecting 
wharves, hotels, warehouses, and store buildings; the 
North American Trading and Transportation Company, 
a quarter of a mile to the west, made extensive improve- 
ments of a like character, which location was named 
Healy in honour of the original projector of the company ; 
three-quarters of a mile farther to the south-east, the 
Alaska Exploration Company, otherwise known as the 
" Liebes " Company, selected their location, and all 
along the beach, buildings were erected by individuals 
and companies for trading and transportation purposes in 
anticipation of extensive and permanent business arising 
from the gold discoveries along the Yukon River and 
streams tributary thereto. 

The establishing of a military post at St. Michaels 



f*T f 








ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 65 

brought with it a company of soldiers who regularly 
patrol and garrison the island, thus placing it under mili- 
tary control, and the discipline is thorough. During the 
stirring and exciting events which occurred here in the 
summer of '98, when hundreds of people were here 
stranded, and much discontent and dissatisfaction was 
created through the failure of companies to carry out 
their contracts, scarcely an instance of lawlessness was 
reported. 

The Yukon River, with its many tributaries, a number 
of which can be navigated by light-draft steamers for 
several hundred miles, traverses an empire. It is naviga- 
ble by 400-ton stern-wheel boats drawing four feet of 
water, for a distance of 1850 miles from its mouth, or to 
the mouth of the Pelly River. It flows into Bering Sea 
through several different channels, that farthest north 
being nearly one hundred miles distant from its most 
southern artery. Its course is westerly, but bends north 
to the Arctic circle when about midway across the Terri- 
tory. At the junction of the Pelly and Lewis Rivers, it 
has an average width of perhaps three-quarters of a mile 
until it reaches Fort Yukon, where it is about eight 
miles wide, and again narrows to about three miles at 
the mouth of the Koyukuk River, and maintains this 
width to Koserefski ; from this point it again widens to 
eight or- ten miles and carries this width towards its 
mouth. 

The navigable tributaries of the Yukon for small, light- 
draft boats may be grouped as follows : 

The Andreafski for 50 miles; Shagluk Slough, 50 
miles; Innoko, 50 miles; Tanana, 300 miles; Klanarcher- 



1 66 ALASKA 

gut, 25 miles; Beaver Creek, 100 miles; Birch Creek, 150 
miles; Koyukuk, 300 miles; Porcupine, 100 miles; Stew- 
art, 300 miles; Pelly, 50 miles; and the McMillan, 200 
miles. 

While the Yukon is navigable for a distance of 1850 
miles with a 400-ton vessel, a 100-ton steamer with pow- 
erful machinery would be able to warp through Rink 
Rapids and Five Fingers, and thence three hundred miles 
farther through Hootalinqua River to the head of Teslin 
Lake. 

The Skaguay or White Pass Route 

The Skaguay trail sprang into prominence in the 
summer of 1897. It was built by a British corporation 
ostensibly to secure a sole charter from the Canadian 
Government for the construction and operation of a 
railroad and trail over the country included in British 
territory. 

It begins with a waggon road starting from Skaguay 
Bay, which is an inlet of Lynn Canal, three miles south 
of Chilkoot Inlet. The waggon road leads through the 
level valley of the Skaguay River for about three miles. 
Half a mile up the road the river is crossed by fording, 
and is more or less dangerous owing to the swiftness of 
the current. 

From the end of the waggon road the ascent begins, 
and a very trying climb it is. Once upon the first bench, 
there is a most beautiful little lake, the winding course 
of which is traversed to the base of Porcupine Hill, a 
half-mile away. The ascent of this hill is made by 
switchbacks, very short and steep. At the top is a cause- 



ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR l6j 

way which marks the place and looks as if it was carved 
out on purpose for a trail or road. The descent to Por- 
cupine Creek, on the other side of the hill, is more steep 
and dangerous than the ascent. Now another climb up 
a higher mountain begins. The opposite side of the 
canyon of the Skaguay River presents a very rugged, 
weird picture. The highest point of the hill is just oppo- 
site a waterfall fifteen hundred feet in descent. About 
two-thirds of the way down it divides into three streams, 
and the passing miners accordingly christened it " Pitch- 
fork Falls." The next descent is to the first bridge on 
the Skaguay River. For two miles the trail crossing the 
eastern shore leads through a comparatively level but 
miry tract of country. Then two more crossings by 
means of bridges are made over the river within the space 
of three-fourths of a mile. The second of these bridges 
is designated as the lt Last Bridge." It is situated at 
the foot of Big Hill, the most difficult mountain climb on 
the route. This mountain is long and steep and the 
sides contain many muddy places. The descent to the 
river is precipitous and short. 

Foot-passengers may avoid this hill by turning to the 
left after crossing the Last Bridge and following up 
the river on a trail known as the Cutoff. It was utterly 
impassable, large rocks, boulders, and ledges obstructing 
the way, and it was thought they could be removed by 
blasting. Mr. Sylvester Scovel, the famous correspond- 
ent of the New York World, sought to undertake this 
task, in the summer of 1897, and announced a donation 
of $1500 on behalf of his paper, which sum was consider- 
ably increased by private subscriptions. Mr. Scovel 



1 68 ALASKA 

returned to New York before the work was completed, 
however, when it was understood the World had aban- 
doned further interest in the project. 

From the point where the Cutoff trail rejoins the main 
trail the route continues along the river, over dangerous 
rocks and sharp grades for about one mile, where the 
river must be forded at the foot of the Summit. The 
ford is in the widest part of a series of rapids, and 
difficulty in crossing is avoided only by the exercise of 
great care. 

When once across the river, an altitude of 2300 feet to 
the Summit is reached by a gradual ascent. 

From the Summit to Lake Bennett the trail follows an 
open but rugged and barren valley for about seventeen 
miles, through which lies a chain of lakes, three of which, 
Summit, Middle, and Shallow Lakes, may be used in 
transporting freight in canoes if packing around them is 
undesirable. The trail from Shallow Lake to Lake Ben- 
nett, about nine miles long, is through a forest, small in 
growth, part of which was destroyed by fire years ago. 
Within this forest there are scores of bogs and deserted 
beaver marshes, which make the passage with pack 
animals extremely difficult. The trail leads to the lower 
end of Lake Lindeman and intersects the Dyea trail at 
this point. The total length of the Skaguay trail is 
forty-two miles, all of which may be traversed by pack 
animals. 

In the summer of 1897 the wild rush for the gold-fields 
began, and the Skaguay trail was the one mostly used. 
Soon a town sprang up at the coast terminus, consisting 
at first of tents and shacks. In an exceedingly short 




,.■■,■■■■■<■■;-■;;:;■■■.; 




ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 69 

time fairly substantial buildings were erected, and the 
young city became known far and wide. A great rush 
for the location of town lots by squatters took place, and 
speculation in real estate soon began. This brought into 
greater prominence the trail, which became the most 
conspicuous one into the interior during the past season. 

The town of Skaguay, while containing a population 
estimated at four thousand, has all the marks of a frontier 
town. Every branch of industry is carried on and ex- 
tensive wharves make the landing from ocean vessels safe 
and convenient. To what extent other permanent im- 
provements may be made will be determined during the 
present year, when the railroad now pushing on to the 
interior demonstrates whether it is to be a popular sub- 
stitute for the old manner of individual packing, and with 
animals and tramways, which promised so much to the 
ambitious prospectors who experienced distress and 
agony in the early days on their way to the Klondike. 

With the advent of the railroad and a line of steamers 
connecting with those of the Yukon River via Rink 
Rapids and Five Fingers, and thence to the headwaters 
of the Yukon, this town will outstrip its rival, Dyea, and 
may become, as many believe, the metropolis of South- 
east Alaska. 

The Stikeen River Route 

It is but natural that the British Government should 
feel much interested in the matter of reaching the gold- 
fields of the interior, for not only the Klondike, but a 
very large portion of the region drained by the Yukon 
River, lies within its territory. 



170 ALASKA 

From the moment the first discoveries were reported 
on the Klondike, great diligence has been exercised by 
the Dominion Government in ascertaining if there was 
not some point on the coast other than Lynn Canal from 
which a good route could be found to the new mining 
camp ; but the past season has demonstrated that the 
only feasible one is that having Dyea or Skaguay as the 
initial point. 

At least one survey was made by this Government from 
Telegraph Creek to Teslin Lake, a distance of about one 
hundred and thirty miles, which is known as " Middle " 
route. The survey shows that for the first five miles the 
grade averages two hundred feet to the mile, and that 
the highest elevation reached on the route is seven hun- 
dred feet. For the first seventy miles the character of 
the country is high, but from here to the lake, a distance 
of about sixty miles, it is much lower, and during early 
spring considerable difficulty is encountered on account 
of the low character of the country. 

There are two other routes which have been prospected, 
one leaving Telegraph Creek and bearing north for about 
twenty-five miles, and then heading direct for Teslin 
Lake. This route is high and dry for nearly the entire 
distance, and although more or less rugged does not 
reach an altitude of more than seventeen hundred feet, 
and its length does not exceed one hundred and fifty miles. 

The third, or southern, route leaves the river at Glenora, 
twelve miles south of Telegraph Creek, and is about one 
hundred and twenty miles long, following a course to 
Teslin Lake about twenty miles south of Middle route. 

It was proposed to establish pack-trains over Middle 



ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR IJl 

route, and had the Canadian Government appropriated 
money for building corduroy roads where needed over 
the low places, as was expected, overland transportation 
could have been had for passengers and freight the entire 
distance to Teslin Lake. This would doubtless be a 
more expensive route to travel on account of the long 
distance of packing, but the difficulties encountered in 
passing over the Summit on both the Dyea and Skaguay 
routes would not be met with here. 

The country throughout almost the entire distance 
from the Stikeen River to Teslin Lake has every appear- 
ance of being a rich agricultural region suitable for the 
cultivation of barley, oats, potatoes, and other vegetables. 
These have been successfully raised in the vicinity of 
Telegraph Creek for a number of years. Bunch grass 
abounds over a great portion of this entire section. 

The Stikeen River is a treacherous stream. Its waters 
are swift and the channel always uncertain. It resembles 
in some respects the Missouri River, sand-bars being more 
or less frequent, the largest lying sixty-five miles from 
Wrangel. Navigating this river in canoes is a long, 
tedious, and dangerous undertaking, and should not be 
attempted without Indian guides who are familiar with 
the stream. A river boat drawing more than twenty- four 
inches, after being loaded would have difficulty during 
most of the season in ascending the river, but would 
doubtless be able to get off the bars without serious 
damage, as no rocks or boulders are found on them. 
The greatest difficulty a boat would encounter on the 
river would be between Glenora and Telegraph Creek, 
where rapids cover the entire distance of twelve miles. 



172 ALASKA 

At Teslin Lake an abundance of black pine and spruce 
abounds and a saw-mill was erected the past season. 
This route to Dawson City extends through Teslin Lake 
and the interior country via the Hootalinqua River, and 
thence down the Yukon. 

The telegraph line upon which millions of dollars were 
spent in the early '6o's, having in contemplation a trans- 
continental line to Bering Strait and thence through 
Siberia and the Old World, and which was suddenly 
abandoned because the Atlantic cable was successfully 
laid, is now, it is said, after the lapse of over a quarter 
of a century, to be rejuvenated. A great many miles of 
poles were erected and wires strung, and all through the 
north-west possessions these poles and wires are still 
found. 

The Canadian Pacific Telegraph Company is reported 
to have decided to extend its line the coming season from 
Cariboo to Telegraph Creek, and thence to Teslin Lake 
and Dawson City. This is almost the identical route 
followed by the original surveys, and with the consum- 
mation of this project the outside world will know in a 
few hours after, the happenings of far-off Alaska, which, 
under present conditions, take weeks and even months 
to reach us. 

Taku Route 

Taku River, emptying into an inlet of the same name 
a dozen miles or so east of Juneau, has figured promi- 
nently during the last few years as a probable British 
route into the interior of Alaska. Two or three parties 
have at different times attempted to reach the interior 



ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 73 

by Taku River during the winter, but in each instance 
became discouraged and returned. It is this river that 
Schwatka ascended on his last trip into the interior in the 
spring of 1891. He found an easy grade going from the 
river to the eastern extremity of Teslin Lake, ninety 
miles overland, but thirty miles of that distance lies 
through a low, swampy country which, before it becomes 
practicable as a route for freighting, will have to be 
corduroyed. 

Dalton or Chilkat Pass Route 

A route that has attracted much attention during the 
past year is what is known as Dalton's trail, so named in 
honour of Jack Dalton, one of the best known explorers 
in Alaska. It leaves Lynn Canal at Pyramid Harbour, 
following up Chilkat River to the junction of the 
Kluhenee River, which it follows to its source, then 
keeping to the west of Lake Arkel, and striking the 
Yukon River at Fort Selkirk, five miles below the mouth 
of the Pelly River. This route requires a portage of 
about three hundred and fifty miles and has an easy 
grade most of the way, though it has an altitude of about 
four thousand feet. 

One feature that is largely in its favour is that it is 
comparatively safe to travel over at any season of the 
year, for the difficult ascent of the Summit encountered 
on both the Skaguay and Dyea trails is avoided here, thus 
robbing it of the terrors which beset the traveller on both 
the other routes in the cold months of winter. 

Mackenzie River Route 
It is not likely that what is known as the Mackenzie 



174 ALASKA 

River route will ever become a much-travelled thorough- 
fare into the interior of Alaska, yet it is true that a route 
has been found by way of the Arctic Ocean to the mouth 
of this river, with a short portage to the headwaters of 
the Porcupine, or by the eastern branch of that river to 
its head, and a short portage to the headwaters of Coal 
Creek, flowing into the Yukon near Fort Cudahy. This 
route has been travelled several times during the last 
few years for the purpose of carrying mail which left San 
Francisco late in the summer via St. Michaels to Fort 
Cudahy, thence to the American whaling fleet in win- 
ter quarters in the Arctic near the mouth of the Mac- 
kenzie River. 

The Back-Door Route 

This route attracted considerable attention among 
Canadians during the past year, and it was thought it 
would be adopted by many going into the interior from 
the Canadian provinces. The strongest argument in its 
favor is, that it is practically an all-water route, and al- 
though it is not claimed that the gold-fields can be 
reached in less time by this route, it is urged that it can 
be made in summer with more comfort and less expense. 

With the exception of the overland journey of forty 
miles between Edmonton and Athabasca Landing, the 
portages are short. Until the latter end of the journey, 
or the Porcupine River is reached, settlements and forts 
are found at convenient distances, and the route lies for 
the most part through a fish and game country, and sup- 
plies can be had at moderate cost. 

After leaving the railroad the route lies over the same 
track used by the Hudson Bay Company for nearly a 



ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 75 

century, and the different points present many evidences 
of civilisation. 

If this route had proved practicable in its present state, 
this year would doubtless have seen it much improved, 
for the competition of the various transportation com- 
panies has awakened strong rivalry as to which is the 
most feasible route and which can offer the best induce- 
ments for people to travel over to reach the gold-fields 
of the north. 

The main line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad branches 
to the north at Calgary, and in a few hours Edmonton, 
the end of the railroad, is reached. Here the first over- 
land part of the journey is made to Athabasca Landing, 
a distance of forty miles. From this point, Athabasca 
River is traversed for one hundred and sixty-five miles 
to Grand Rapids, where, to avoid three-fourths of a mile 
of rocky rapids, a portage must be made, letting the boat 
through by means of a rope. 

After this point is reached, the boat may proceed 
ninety miles to Fort McMurray, but extreme caution 
must be exercised in navigating, as the river is one con- 
tinuous extent of rapids and swirling pools. 

At Fort McMurray, clear water is again found to 
Athabasca Lake, a distance of one hundred and eighty- 
five miles, where the lake must be crossed a distance of 
fifteen miles to Fort Chippewyan. From here follow 
the lake ten miles to the mouth of Slave River, and fol- 
low this stream nearly one hundred miles, or to the head 
of a portage of about eighteen miles, commencing this 
side of Fort Smith. 

If desired, the river may be followed instead of making 



176 ALASKA 

the portage, but if this is done a half-dozen short port- 
ages would have to be made ; the last part of the river is 
exceedingly precarious on account of danger to the boat 
from the rapid water and rocks encountered. 

From where the river is again taken it is followed for 
two hundred miles in good current and clear water into 
Great Slave Lake. Ten miles to the west of this point 
is Fort Resolution. Then the shores of Great Slave 
Lake are followed to the point where the Hay River 
empties into it, a distance of ninety miles. From Hay 
River to the head of the Mackenzie River, a distance of 
twenty miles, the shores are marked by huge boulders 
and rocks, making navigation exceedingly dangerous, and 
should never be attempted when the wind is blowing 
from any direction but east. 

Mackenzie River should be entered by what is known 
as the South Channel, following the southern shore until 
numerous small islands are passed. From the head of 
Mackenzie River to Fort Providence is a distance of 
eighty miles, and from here to Fort Simpson is one hun- 
dred and sixty miles. Continuing down the river, it is 
one hundred and thirty miles to Fort Wrigley, and from 
Fort Wrigley to Fort Norman, the next post, is one 
hundred and eighty-four miles, and one hundred and 
eighty miles farther on is Fort Good Hope. 

Two hundred and fifty miles down the river the Red 
River joins its waters with the Mackenzie. Thirty miles 
from Red River a small branch of Peel River empties 
into the Mackenzie. This river is ascended twenty miles 
where it joins the main branch of the Peel near Fort Mc- 
Pherson. The Peel River is crossed at this point, and 



ROUTES TO THE INTERIOR 1 77 

the Rat River is ascended for thirty miles, where a port- 
age of one mile is made, to the headwaters of the Porcu- 
pine River, which is followed to its junction with the 
Yukon River, from which point the mining camps either 
up or down the Yukon are reached. 

Another way to reach the Yukon River from the 
mouth of the Mackenzie is by following the eastern 
branch of the Porcupine, whose headwaters rise near the 
source of Coal Creek, which flows into the Yukon near 
Fort Cudahy. The portage between these two streams 
is about eight miles, but the country is too rough to ever 
become a popular route. 

A third route from the mouth of the Mackenzie River 
to the mines of the interior is by ascending the Peel 
River to its source, and then across the divide to the 
headwaters of Stewart River. This is thought to be a 
good route, but it is doubtful if any reliable information 
has been received concerning it. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE YUKON GOLD-FIELDS 

GOLD was first discovered in paying quantities in the 
Yukon basin in 1881. In that year a party of four 
miners crossed the range and descended the Lewes River 
as far as the Big Salmon River, which they ascended a 
distance of two hundred miles. Gold was found on all 
the bars of the Big Salmon, many of which paid well. 
In the next three or four years some mining was done on 
the Pelly and Hootalinqua Rivers, and in 1886, gold in 
considerable quantities was found at Cassiar bar on the 
Lewes River. The richest claims located in the Yukon 
country up to that date yielded as high as one hundred 
dollars per day to each man. 

As early as i860 men in the employ of the Hudson 
Bay Company are reported to have found gold in the 
Yukon basin. Professor Davidson credits George Holt 
as being the first white man to cross the Coast Range. A 
confusion exists as to the time of Holt's journey, the 
dates being variously given as 1872, 1874, and 1878. 

Holt went down the chain of lakes to Lake Marsh 
and then followed an Indian trail to the Hootalinqua 
River, where, he reported upon his return, he had found 
coarse gold. No coarse gold, however, has since been 

178 




CREEK GOLD-FIELDS. 




AMERICAN AND MISSION CREEK GOLD-FIELDS. 



THE YUKON GOLD-FIELDS 1 79 

found on that river, but the bars yield large quantities of 
flour gold. In 1880, Edward Bean led a party of twenty- 
five men from Sitka to the Hootalinqua River, but met 
with indifferent success. Other parties also crossed the 
pass during the same year. 

The Stewart River country is the most promising of 
the upper Yukon. The river is navigable for many 
miles, and has tributaries that are large enough to deserve 
the name of rivers. It drains a country that is an empire 
in itself. The Stewart River is estimated at about eight 
hundred miles in length, and gold is found on all its bars. 
One of them has been known to produce $4000 in a single 
season. For more than ten years prospecting in a desul- 
tory manner has been carried on here, but as yet no great 
strike has been reported. 

The Klondike miners, knowing that it is just over the 
first great divide from their own stream, have the greatest 
faith in the future of Stewart River. 

The season of 1898 witnessed a greater emigration to 
that section than ever before. Many miners, going into 
the interior, stopped there rather than take their chances 
in the Klondike, and many reports of rich discoveries 
have been made. 

There seems always to have been a combination of cir- 
cumstances arising against thorough prospecting in the 
Stewart River country since gold was first discovered on 
that stream. In the early days men left diggings there 
that were paying well for more promising claims on Forty 
Mile. The next excitement which turned the attention 
of miners to Stewart River was nipped in the bud when 
Birch Creek began to hold . up alluring prospects, and 



180 ALASKA 

again the stampede was diverted. The next move to- 
wards Stewart River was hardly begun, when the wonders 
of the Klondike carried men off their feet and landed 
them in the opposite direction ; and prospecting the past 
season had hardly begun in earnest, when the excitement 
attending rich discoveries in Lake Atlin district again 
diverted attention from Stewart River, and lost to this 
section many miners who had found good prospects. 

Most of the old miners of the interior have faith in the 
Stewart River country, and it is a common sentiment 
among this class that this is the coming camp. Many 
believe that not only will rich placer diggings be found 
here, but also extensive deposits of ore are predicted, and 
not a few can be found who believe that the mother 
lode is yet to be unearthed somewhere along the valley 
of the Stewart. 

On the banks of the river will be found a growth of 
timber suitable for use in mining, building cabins, and 
for fuel. Here, too, are tracts of open ground which 
may be adapted to agriculture. Moose, cariboo, and 
bear abound in the adjacent woods and fish stock the 
streams. 

The important discoveries made in the great Yukon 
basin previous to that of the Klondike were, Forty Mile, 
Sixty Mile, Miller, Glacier, and Birch Creeks, and Ko- 
yukuk River. Forty Mile and Sixty Mile Creeks flow 
into the Yukon from the west, having their source in the 
Ratzel Mountains, a low intermediate range running 
nearly parallel to the Yukon and forming the divide be- 
tween the Yukon and Tanana Rivers. The streams put- 
ting into the Tanana on the west side of this range have 



THE YUKON GOLD-FIELDS l8l 

not yet been explored ; but lower down, along the banks 
of the Tanana, some prospecting has been done and gold 
in paying quantities has been found. 

Miller Creek, for several years one of the richest dis- 
covered in the interior, is a tributary of Sixty Mile Creek, 
entering it about seventy miles from its mouth. Miller 
Creek is about seven miles long, and upwards of fifty 
mining claims have been located there, but few of them 
have, as yet, been developed to any considerable extent. 
Miners prospected this creek at various times during pre- 
ceding years, each time abandoning it because the vast 
accumulations of drift found everywhere made it un- 
profitable to work. But in 1892, prospecting again be- 
gan, and many rich strikes were made, one claim alone 
yielding $37,000 of the yellow metal, and one clean-up 
being reported of about eleven hundred ounces. 

Glacier Creek is another branch of Sixty Mile Creek, 
running nearly parallel with Miller Creek, and about three 
miles distant. Claims prospected on this creek promise 
to equal in richness those of Miller Creek, for rich finds 
have been reported on abandoned claims. The whole 
creek has been located, the first claims being staked out 
in the summer of 1894. The gulch is nine miles in 
length, and varies in width from one and one-half miles 
at its mouth to six feet at the head. The prospects on 
Glacier Creek are excellent, the dirt yielding from a few 
cents to four dollars to the pan. 

Another creek, about three miles distant from Miller 
Creek, is named Bed-Rock, but as yet has not proved 
very promising as a mining location. 

Indian River flows into the Yukon about thirty miles 



1 82 ALASKA 

below Sixty Mile Creek. Here rich gold discoveries were 
reported in 1894, and since then it has attracted increased 
attention. The stream is rapid and shallow, but pro- 
spectors have ascended it a distance of over one hundred 
miles. 

Shortly after the rich discoveries on the Klondike, 
prospecting was commenced on Indian River, and Sul- 
phur and Dominion Creeks, both tributaries, proved to 
be very rich. This led to thorough prospecting on the 
main creek and all its branches, and the indications are 
that they will prove as rich as some of the tributaries of 
the Klondike. A trail over the hills from the Klondike 
connects with Indian River a few miles above its mouth. 

Forty Mile Creek, previous to the Klondike discovery, 
was more familiarly known to the miners of Alaska and 
to the people at large than any other locality in the 
Territory. Its bars have yielded large returns, but these 
diggings are practically abandoned for the gulches and 
ravines which furnish coarse gold. It is about two hun- 
dred miles long, and has numerous tributaries. Entering 
the Yukon from the west, it drains the country lying be- 
tween the Yukon and Tanana Rivers. It was not dis- 
covered until 1887 and was the scene of the first real 
excitement in the valley of the Yukon. Its mouth is 
just over the line in Canadian territory in about sixty- 
four degrees north latitude, and about one hundred and 
forty-one degrees west longitude. The first news of gold 
being found there was brought to the coast by a man 
named Tom Williams, who was the bearer of letters to 
Jack McQuestion, of the Alaska Commercial Company's 
trading post at Forty Mile, who was then in San Fran- 




REEK GOLD-FIELDS. 




FORTY MILE CREEK GOLD-FIELDS. 



THE YUKON GOLD-FIELDS 1 83 

cisco. The letters advised him of the discovery, and 
instructed him to ship in a larger supply of provisions in 
anticipation of a rush to the new Eldorado the following 
spring. Williams was accompanied by an Indian boy 
with a dog team and sled. They had an extremely rough 
trip up the river. It was in the dead of winter and the 
cold was intense. Before reaching Lake Bennett the 
dogs all died from cold and exhaustion. At the summit 
of Chilkoot Pass a fearful storm arose and the struggling 
travellers were compelled to hastily build a snow hut in 
which they remained ten days, living on a little dry flour, 
the only thing left them in the way of provisions. Both 
men were badly frost-bitten, and upon attempting to re- 
sume the journey it was found that Williams was unable 
to travel. Nothing daunted, the young Indian took his 
companion on his back and, struggling through drifts and 
blinding snow, succeeded in reaching Dyea, sixteen miles 
distant. A few days later Williams died, but not before 
he told at Dyea of the strike at Forty Mile and of the 
mail pouch containing letters, which was left at the snow 
hut at the Summit, where it was afterwards recovered. 

In the following spring active mining operations began, 
and it is estimated that since that time upwards of a mil- 
lion dollars in gold have been taken out of Forty Mile 
Creek and the small feeders running into it. On Forty 
Mile nearly all of the available rich ground has been 
worked out, but there are many high bars along the 
stream known to be rich which have not as yet been 
touched because of the difficulty of getting water through 
them, and the frozen condition of the ground. 

Birch Creek, the scene of the next strike and excite- 



1 84 ALASKA 

ment in the Yukon country, runs parallel with the Yukon 
on the west for over three hundred miles, and, as else- 
where related, there is a portage of only six miles across 
the country between this and the Yukon, two hundred 
miles above its confluence with that stream, so a trip by 
water from one terminal of the portage to the other in- 
volves a journey of four hundred miles. Here on the 
Yukon side of the gateway to the Birch Creek mines is 
Circle City, at one time a close rival of Forty Mile as the 
metropolis of the Yukon mines. 

. The news of gold discoveries on the Klondike in the 
autumn of 1896 drew largely upon the population of 
Circle City and its adjoining creeks. Miners abandoned 
claims that were making them rich. Very few withstood 
the panic. In the middle of a terrible winter hundreds 
of men drew their sledges over the ice of the Yukon to 
try the new diggings more than three hundred miles 
distant, yet no man perished in making the journey. 

Here are extensive auriferous deposits, and the creeks 
and bars adjacent to Birch Creek have been more or less 
thoroughly prospected, with the result that this section 
still promises exceedingly well. 

One of the principal tributaries of Birch Creek is 
Crooked Creek, and from Circle City a trail leads over 
the hills to the mines on Independence and Mastodon 
Creeks. 

On Molymute, a branch of Birch Creek, gold was first 
discovered in 1893, and since that time it has been found 
on tributary streams. Birch Creek has been explored for 
upwards of three hundred and fifty miles, and the entire 
distance is filled with rapids and canyons. The South 




(OLD-FIELDS. 




BIRCH CREEK GOLD-FIELDS. 



THE YUKON GOLD-FIELDS 1 85 

Fork drains the country lying at the head of Seventy 
Mile Creek. Many claims were staked off in 1894 on 
Mastodon, Independence, and other streams flowing into 
Birch Creek. These claims are more easily worked than 
elsewhere on the Yukon and tributaries, from the fact 
that bedrock appears much nearer the surface and water 
is more easily obtained. Some sixty miles below Birch 
Creek portage, Preacher Creek joins the main stream. 
This creek is about one hundred and twenty miles long. 
It has been prospected but little and not much is known 
of it except that, as everywhere else in the Yukon basin, 
gold is found. The headwaters of this creek penetrate a 
country whose geological formation is very peculiar, 
showing drift and disturbances which might have been 
caused by the receding of waters ages ago. 

The most recent discovery of gold yet reported, is that 
of Munook Creek flowing into the Yukon eleven hundred 
miles above St. Michaels and seven hundred miles down 
the river from Dawson City. Munook Creek enters the 
Yukon from the south, and is far within the limits of 
American territory. It is reached by steamer via St. 
Michaels, or by the overland route, and it is estimated 
that there are fifteen hundred people in the camps, the 
main centre of which is Rampart City. Several hundred 
people took passage late in the summer of 1897 on 
steamers headed for Dawson City, but the water being 
low it proved impossible to pass the bars in the vicinity 
of Fort Yukon. The Munook discovery having been 
made in the meantime, many of the passengers took up 
their quarters here and are engaged in prospecting and 
winter mining. 



1 86 ALASKA 

The reports sent out from Munook are very flattering, 
but the spring clean-up alone can tell of the richness of 
the diggings. The country promises to rival the Klon- 
dike, but whether or not these expectations will be real- 
ised cannot be determined at this time. 

A remarkable feature that encourages the search for 
Munook gold is the high quality of the metal found there. 
The nuggets are heavier, darker in colour, and freer from 
foreign substance than the Klondike gold. It assays the 
remarkably high price of $18.97 per ounce, which is about 
$2.50 higher than Klondike gold. One lot of samples 
brought down by James Dietrich, a mining expert, con- 
tained nuggets to the amount of $1200, gathered from 
each of the different creeks flowing into the Munook. 
It could be readily observed that each was slightly dif- 
ferent from the other in shade of colouring. This was a 
reminder of the old California days when gold-buyers 
always knew by the colour of the gold from which creek 
it came. Dark-coloured gold is said by old miners to 
indicate permanency of diggings. 

The Munook, like the Klondike, will prove to be 
largely winter diggings from the fact that the prevalence 
of high water in summer prevents active mining. The 
surface of the ground in the Munook region is thickly 
covered with the ever present Alaskan moss. 

The tributaries of Munook Creek where claims are 
staked are named Little Miller, Hunter, Little Munook, 
Gold, Hoosier, Hamilton, Ruby, Slate, Chapman, and 
Granite. 

Six years ago some rich gold discoveries were made on 
the Koyukuk River which were prospected vigorously 




MUNOOK CREEK GOLD-FIELDS. 



THE YUKON GOLD-FIELDS 1 87 

the following year with good results. A number of 
creeks, namely, North Fork, Wild Creek, South Fork, 
and Fish Creek have been prospected with fairly good 
success. 

During the summer of 1898 many miners who had 
started up the Yukon for the Klondike left this stream at 
the mouth of the Koyukuk and distributed themselves 
along the river and its branches for over three hundred 
miles. Over twenty river boats ascended the Koyukuk, 
and seven dredging machines operated along its banks 
and on the bars, it is said, with splendid results. A 
town named Peavy was located just above the Arctic 
circle, and several miners are wintering in this vicinity 
and prospecting the country vigorously. A land office 
was established at Peavy in March last. 

While most flattering reports are in circulation con- 
cerning the Koyukuk River country, the true facts from 
this region will not be known until navigation opens the 
coming summer. 

Below the Koyukuk River, the only streams of any 
importance that empty into the Yukon are the Inoko, 
coming in from the south, and the Anvik from the north 
about thirty miles farther down. Along the Anvik dis- 
coveries were announced early last spring, and consider- 
able excitement was occasioned by the reports from that 
region, but the attitude of the military stationed at St. 
Michaels, who discouraged the staking off of the claims 
on the ground that it was within the military reservation, 
prevented the investigation which would otherwise have 
been made. 

The difference in climate between the coast country 



1 88 ALASKA 

and that of the interior is very marked. All along the 
Kuskoquim River, during the summer months, there is 
an excessive fall of rain, while in the interior it is very 
dry. The frozen condition of the ground, which extends 
to a depth of many feet below the surface, makes placer 
mining everywhere in the interior of Alaska very difficult. 
A layer of moss, often to the depth of eighteen inches, 
covers the ground, and the hot rays of the sun during 
the long days of summer are not able to penetrate suffi- 
ciently to thaw the ground underneath. It is only where 
the moss is stripped and the bare surface is reached by 
the sun's rays that it thaws to any extent. This method 
is often resorted to by miners in order to get the ground 
in readiness for their sluicing work. The ice seldom 
passes out of the Yukon before the first or middle of 
June. As early as the middle of September the sun has 
travelled so far south that the air is chilly, and in a few 
days ice forms, so that further working of the ground in 
this manner must be abandoned until the following year. 
It must be remembered, however, that although one 
cannot depend upon much more than two months for 
summer work, yet, from about the middle of June until 
the first of August, it is daylight, the sun shining almost 
continually. Thus, what is lost in the length of the 
season is, in a measure, made up in the length of the 
day. If a man can stand the severe physical strain, he 
can put in many more hours of work here than in placer 
mining camps in other parts of the country; and if his 
claim proves sufficiently rich to enable him to pay for 
hired help, darkness never interferes with work, for by 
running two or three shifts each day, he can work his 



THE YUKON GOLD-FIELDS 1 89 

mine, and have daylight to do it in, nearly the entire 
season. 

The creeks described in this chapter, as a general thing 
may be worked in winter as well as in summer. It was 
the original custom to work them in the summer only, 
and for the miners to either return to civilisation in the 
fall or while away the long months of winter in visiting 
neighbours, making trips to native settlements, or in 
hunting and trapping. But the happy thought came to 
some one to make fires upon the ground, thus thawing 
and removing the earth until bedrock was reached ; then 
to tunnel and drift, lifting the dirt to the surface, where 
it was washed out in the spring. This gave a new im- 
petus to Yukon placer mining, and now some creeks are 
worked only in the winter, which, on account of high 
waters in summer could not be operated. Such was the 
origin of the now common designation of " winter dig- 
gings " or " summer diggings." 

The accompanying cut represents the exact size of a 
nugget taken out by the winter process of mining. It 
was found in Franklyn Gulch, March 26, 1894, by Con- 
rad Dahl. It weighed exactly thirty ounces before, and 
twenty-nine and forty-five one-hundredths ounces after, 
being melted at the Mint in San Francisco. Dahl had 
prospected in the vicinity the summer before, and in the 
winter thawed the ground by burning wood on top, and 
continued the process until he reached bedrock, hauled 
the dirt out, and washed it afterwards. The nugget 
brought $49!-45- 

The next few years will probably determine whether 
or not there are any extensive deposits of gold quartz in 



9 o 



ALASKA 



the interior of Alaska. Until the past season most of 
those who have gone there have been men of very limited 
means, and the difficulty of getting supplies in from the 
coast has been so great that they were taxed to the 
utmost to land at the scene of their labours with food 
sufficient to last them for a single season. On this 
account little prospecting for quartz has been done. 



§ INCH THICK. 



l\ INCHES THICK. 



A YUKON NUGGET. 

SIZE AND SHAPE. 



Within the past year, however, companies have been 
formed and an effort made to test the quartz-bearing 
capacity of this country. It is fair to suppose when gold 
is found upon every stream or creek, that somewhere in 
the mountains there must be rich quartz ledges. There 
are instances, and not a few, where men, in working or 
prospecting placer mines, have come across boulders 
or rocks containing gold, but, for reasons stated abov^e, 
they were not able to expend the labour necessary to 
follow up the " float." 



THE YUKON GOLD-FIELDS 191 

Those who have not had personal experience in placer 
mining cannot realise the fascination which one feels 
when engaged in this occupation. It is a healthful, 
hopeful, rugged, and independent life. The vocation of 
the placer miner often carries him alone into the moun- 
tain fastnesses, with pick, shovel, and pan, far away from 
every scene of civilisation. He feels a pride in picking 
out the yellow fragments, which he has separated from 
the dirt by dextrous dipping, gradually letting the gravel 
run out with the water, while the yellow deposit settles 
around the edge and gravitates to the bottom of the pan. 
Before venturing upon the life, he naturally dreads the 
separation from home and friends. He realises that he 
is to be deprived of the pleasures of society ; perhaps 
he is leaving a loving wife and children behind, but when 
once in the field, these recollections crowd him on to 
new life and spur him to renewed efforts. And when, 
perhaps, he has secured his treasure, life seems to open 
up through a vista of years a new and happy existence. 
In no place on earth can you find such loyalty to friends, 
such honour among men, as in the camp of the miner. 
They are the architects of their own laws and execution- 
ers as well. Their lives develop all the characteristics 
that go to make up a strong nature, and the dangers with 
which they come in contact school them to bear their 
burdens calmly and to meet peril or death, if need be, 
with fortitude. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE KLONDIKE 

FOR many years, the old miners who were located on 
various tributaries of the Yukon declared that no 
pay-dirt existed above Forty Mile Creek. This was the 
prevalent and accepted theory. With this idea in mind, 
which may be almost pronounced a superstition, the 
streams entering the Yukon from the eastward were 
shunned by prospectors. What is now the most famous 
gold-bearing stream in the world was known only as a 
great creek for salmon. Some gold is reported to have 
been taken out from the Klondike as early as 1887, but 
not sufficient in quantity to attract special attention, as 
the presence of gold on streams in that region generally 
goes without saying. 

There seems to be a tendency to shift the glory of the 
first find in the Klondike. One story has it that a cer- 
tain " tenderfoot," who did not know that old miners 
never dig through clay in searching for gold, dug on 
through, and by his ignorance made the great Klondike 
discovery. 

The real discoverer, however, according to a number 
of authorities, among whom is William Ogilvie, chief of 
the Canadian boundary surveyors, was J. W. Carmach. 

192 



THE KLONDIKE 1 93 

Nine years previous to the discovery, Carmach married a 
squaw. He finally learned from his wife's people a long- 
guarded secret, that large deposits of gold were to be 
found in that region. With two Indians he went on a 
prospecting tour. In eight days' time, with the most 
crude methods, he had the phenomenal success of secur- 
ing $1420 in coarse gold. He said he could have accom- 
plished this in one-fourth of the time with proper facilities. 
This was on what is now known as Bonanza Creek. 

When the information of Carmach's discovery reached 
Circle City and Forty Mile, many were incredulous, but 
a great stampede ensued. In a very short time every 
available claim on the creek was staked off. Prospecting 
on other gulches began, and soon F. W. Cobb and Frank 
Phiscator, both " tenderfeet," succeeded in making good 
strikes on a tributary of Bonanza Creek, which they 
named Eldorado Creek. 

During the autumn months of 1896 the prospecting 
and locating of claims continued. The season was well 
on, but the eager miners made quick arrangements for 
the winter's work. By the following spring, good finds 
had been made on Hunker, Bear, Adams, and Gold Bot- 
tom Creeks, and on Skookum Gulch, all tributaries and 
sub-tributaries of the Klondike. It is the present opinion 
of miners, based on results thus far obtained, that Eldo- 
rado Creek is the richest of the lot, and that Hunker is a 
close second. Many miners are anxiously awaiting the 
coming clean-up on " Too Much Gold " Creek. This is 
a significant name given by the Indians to a creek far up 
the Klondike. The miners, in speaking of it, always add 

drily that gold is so plentiful there that gravel should be 
13 



194 ALASKA 

mixed with it to make good sluicing. Little gold has 
yet been found in the valley of the Klondike River itself, 
it being wholly confined thus far to the tributary creeks. 

The spring clean-up of 1897, following the first winter's 
digging and burning, was sufficient to startle the whole 
world as a gold discovery had never before done. Many 
of the owners of claims would not have had the means to 
pay for labour had they not panned out gold for the pur- 
pose as the work proceeded. Partly in this manner it 
became known that the Klondike discovery was a phe- 
nomenal one, for single pans of earth yielded sums in 
coarse gold ranging as high as $800, and many gave from 
$100 to $350 to the pan. The miners easily paid the 
wages of their men and other expenses in this manner, 
but the sluice-boxes in the spring made many of them 
wealthy men. 

The first steamer from St. Michaels which reached 
Seattle in July, 1897, brought upwards of a ton of gold, 
and its various owners aboard possessed sums ranging 
from $20,000 to $115,000 each. Very few of the miners 
brought out the full amount of their riches, as those 
retaining their claims had operated them but one short 
season. Some left portions of their gold for new invest- 
ments in purchasable claims, and others deposited large 
sums with the commercial companies because it was 
inconvenient to handle en route. 

These figures, large as they seem, were insignificant 
in comparison with the output of last season. The 
first winter the miners were not supplied with wood for 
thawing the ground, lumber for building sluice-boxes, 
or logs for cabins. They were largely provided with 




KLONDIKE GOLD-FIELDS. 



THE KLONDIKE 1 95 

these necessities during last summer, however, and the 
output of 1898, based on conservative figures, reached 
the sum of $6,000,000. It is the general opinion by 
those in a position to know, that the wealth of the dig- 
gings has not been overestimated, and that if no new 
discoveries are made, those already known to exist can- 
not be exhausted in a decade to come. 

The sudden and vast riches thus bestowed upon these 
hardy, whole-souled miners has developed a new lot of 
bonanza kings as great and as unique as ever California 
or Nevada produced. The history of the Mackays, Fairs, 
and Comstocks may be, if not outdone, at least parallelled 
by characters in the persons of McDonald, Ladue, or 
Galvin. Alexander McDonald took out $94,000 from 
forty square feet of ground, two feet in depth. He is 
the largest owner of claims in the Klondike, and has re- 
cently organized a company in London, with a capital of 
$6,000,000, to work his properties. Pat Galvin, an old- 
time Alaskan, recently refused an offer of $1,000,000 in 
cash for his holdings, and is said to be surely on the road 
to greater wealth. He was formerly a newspaper-man 
of Helena, Montana. 

The detachment of North-west Mounted Police, under 
command of Inspector Charles Constantine, were among 
the first on the ground when the Bonanza and Eldorado 
Creek discoveries were made. The inspector allowed his 
men to locate claims and hold them by representatives. 
Numbers of the police force suddenly became rich men 
while still working for the Government at a dollar a day. 
One of these individuals, who had only expended the 
$15 for recording, and had done nothing more than to 



I96 ALASKA 

drive four stakes in the ground, soon sold out for $40,000. 
Others secured much larger sums. Some remained to 
work their claims when their term of enlistment expired, 
but none re-enlisted in the service of the Government. 
The outcome was that entirely new men had to be sent 
in to recruit the police force. 

The first season at the mines was an eventful one for 
the persons who chanced to be there. Their eyes were 
feasted on scenes rough and crude, but not to be forgot- 
ten in a century. The most remarkable of these scenes, 
was to enter a lowly cabin, and see clustered about under 
a rough table, or on a none-too-cleanly shelf, old coal-oil 
cans, syrup cans, or buckets filled to the brim with gold 
nuggets fresh from the soil. In one cabin would be as 
many as three gold-pans heaped full of nuggets; another 
would have as much more in a heap on a piece of canvas 
cloth spread out. And yet no man with loaded rifle 
stood on guard, and no thief was there to carry the 
treasure away. 

Mrs. Lippy was at the mines with her husband, and 
she gathered about $6000 in nuggets from the sides of 
the dump-pile on their claim. Mrs. Clarence Berry, with 
gold-pan, washed out gold to a like amount, just to pass 
away the time. 

The Klondike River has its source back in the Rocky 
Mountains at some unknown distance. Its headwaters 
have never been explored, much less its upper tributaries. 
It is not known that gold does not exist in all of them, 
for the country has been impenetrable on account of the 
great difficulties in transporting supplies, and in travel- 
ling in a country totally unpopulated and unmarked by 



THE KLONDIKE 1 97 

trails of any kind. While other regions across on the 
American side are being ransacked for the precious yellow 
metal, it is yet within the most reasonable probabilities 
of the future that the upper Klondike will become a 
producer of gold in quantities equal to those localities 
already discovered. 

The Klondike River empties into the Yukon sixty 
miles below Sixty Mile Post and forty miles above the 
town of Forty Mile. Dawson City, at the junction, was 
founded, shortly after Carmach's discovery, by Joseph 
Ladue, an old-timer who for several years had operated 
a saw-mill and store at Sixty Mile Post. Ladue was 
chosen as the first mayor of Dawson City. He still owns 
much of the town-site and large mining interests, all of 
which he estimates as worth $5,000,000. The estimated 
population of Dawson and the neighbouring camps is 
about 17,000. 

The character of the country in the Klondike region is 
mountainous. It is a difficult country to traverse, al- 
though not heavily timbered. The growth of timber in 
the immediate vicinity of Dawson City is small and 
sparse, but it is larger and more plentiful at the mines 
farther up the stream. Logs for building at Dawson are 
secured farther up the Yukon and floated down in rafts. 
The great tax upon the timber is for wood to burn in 
thawing the ground for winter mining. For this pur- 
pose, of course, brush and scrubby undergrowth are 
largely used. 

Some of the best pay-dirt on the Klondike is in low, 
swampy ground, which in the summer time cannot be 
worked on account of the water. Dig a prospect hole 



I98 ALASKA 

one foot in the ground, and it will immediately fill with 
water. So it is, as far down as the soil is penetrated. 
The water pours in and stops operations until ice forms 
in the fall. For this reason the Klondike is spoken of by 
miners as " winter diggings." 

Having built his sluice-boxes and collected as much 
wood as possible during the summer months, the miner 
begins in the fall by clearing a few square feet of the 
surface of its coating of frozen moss, such as is common 
over the whole of the interior of Alaska and North-west 
Territory. The next step is to kindle a fire upon the 
surface thus divested of its covering, and to heap on 
wood for several hours. Then, the fire being removed, 
the men with shovels and picks quickly throw aside the 
thawed earth and gravel as far down as the " burning " 
process has reached, which is not more than a foot or 
two. The earth removed is piled in a heap safe from 
spring freshets, and this is called the " dump." This 
process is repeated until bedrock is reached, which, in 
the Klondike, averages from fifteen to forty feet in 
depth. From the bottom of the shaft thus sunk, drifts 
extend in different directions, and the dirt is hoisted to 
the surface and carefully piled on the dump. The clean- 
up does not occur until spring. A golden harvest-time 
it is, and the mines that have been sold are often paid 
for at this time, and debts for labour and otherwise are 
settled for in gold fresh from the ground. 

Prospecting in the Klondike is not an easy task. First, 
the prospector must not go too far from his base of sup- 
plies, for upon his back, with trails unbroken, he can carry 
only enough food for a few days at most. In the sum- 



THE KLONDIKE 1 99 

mer-time with pick, shovel, and gold-pan he washes for 
colours in the surface dirt, but in the winter he endeav- 
ours to sink a shaft to bedrock. Locating a claim and 
having it recorded by the Gold Commissioner is not an 
idle matter, for the reason that not more than one claim 
by location in the district may be recorded and held by 
the same person. Should the claim prove worthless, the 
prospector has lost his right to secure mining property in 
that district by location, and to purchase is too often be- 
yond his means. The sales of whole properties, however, 
are not so common as those of part interests in them, and 
the owner of a mining claim is invariably willing to sell 
one-fourth or one-half for much less in proportion. Sales 
have been made at fancy prices right on the ground long 
before the outside world had felt the fever of the Klon- 
dike excitement. 

Placer claims, by the Canadian laws, are divided into 
two classes: namely, gulch claims and bench claims. 
The former are five hundred feet long and the full width 
of the gulch in which they are situated. Bench claims 
are only one hundred feet square. This remarkable dif- 
ference in size, with the increase in favour of the richer 
class of ground, had an interesting origin. A few years 
ago miners operating on the Canadian side near Forty 
Mile Post petitioned the Government for larger claims 
than the then legal size of one hundred feet square. It 
was represented that the miners were compelled to con- 
vey their own supplies over a dangerous route of several 
hundred miles at great labour and expense. The Govern- 
ment responded right liberally by enacting a law, espe- 
cially for the Canadian Yukon district, permitting the 



200 ALASKA 

acquiring of claims five hundred feet long and the full 
width of the gulch. Bench claims were then unknown, 
but later, when the land known as benches along the 
shores of the Yukon gold-bearing creeks were found also 
to be valuable, the only dimensions applicable to them 
by law was the old measurement of one hundred feet 
square. 

Many persons, whose information is the best, have ex- 
pressed the opinion that quartz is plentiful in the adja- 
cent mountains. The Klondike is by far the richest 
known mining region in the whole of the Yukon valley, 
if not of the whole world. Time may prove that other 
tributaries of the same great river are richer, and this is 
possible, for many of the streams have not as yet been 
prospected. 

The laws of the Dominion of Canada allow all persons 
of whatsoever nationality, over eighteen years of age, to 
lease mineral land in that territory, upon payment of a 
stated royalty, but do not authorise the purchase of 
mineral land. 

On the other hand, the laws of the United States do 
not allow its own citizens or those of any other country 
to lease mineral land, but a citizen, or one who has de- 
clared his intention to become such, may purchase mineral 
land in Alaska. 



CHAPTER XV 

SUGGESTIONS TO PROSPECTORS 

THOSE who intend to go to Alaska should take suffi- 
cient supplies for at least one year. One should 
plan to spend at least two years in the country. The 
first year is usually consumed in prospecting for a claim ; 
the second in burning off the surface of moss, stripping 
to pay-streak, building ditches, constructing sluices, and 
in active mining. Enough money should be taken 
to pay the rail and steamer fare, for help in sledding or 
packing, and for the Canadian customs duty. To meet 
all the necessary expenses of the trip and take one year's 
outfit, at least $500 .is necessary. Money may be de- 
posited in Seattle banks and letters of credit obtained, 
payable by the different trading companies at their several 
posts, the cost of which is one per cent. Or certificates 
of deposit may be had and will be taken anywhere in the 
northern country. Sending home for money is a very 
uncertain thing for several reasons, one of which is the 
unreliable mail and express service. The present rates of 
fare charged from Seattle to Dyea and Skaguay are $40 
first-class and $25 steerage. To Dawson City the fare is 
usually about $150. 

Supplies may be secured at Seattle, Juneau, Skaguay, 



202 ALASKA 

or Dyea. The merchants of either of these towns are 
adepts in the art of packing supplies for the interior, and 
know just what is needed. 

The quantity of supplies necessary for a journey over 
the passes must be determined by the size of one's purse, 
but in no case should the journey be attempted without 
a supply sufficient to last at least two months. Appended 
is a list of supplies intended for a one year's outfit. The 
selection of the goods is largely a matter of taste, but the 
list here given is a comprehensive one, intended to remind 
the purchaser of everything he is likely to need, some of 
which may be dispensed with. The hardware and camp- 
ing outfit, with few additions, is sufficient for two persons. 

None but the very best quality of goods should be 
taken. Winter clothing and blankets should be wool or 
fur. 

While passing over the Summit in winter is considered 
a hazardous undertaking, yet, if attempted at the proper 
time, it can be made with as much safety as at any other 
season of the year. Do not attempt to cross the Summit 
unless there is every indication that there will be no wind. 
The great trouble in making journeys by sledge, with 
dogs or afoot, is that one undertakes to accomplish too 
much in a given space of time. He loads down his 
beasts of burden and travels too fast. The experienced 
traveller will camp whenever the conditions for travelling 
are unfavourable, and remain there contented, even 
though it be for days at a time. A good rule to follow 
is, if one cannot comfortably make ten miles a day, make 
five, and if five cannot be made, make one, and before a 
person is conscious of the passing of time, he is at the 



SUGGESTIONS TO PROSPECTORS 203 

end of his journey. Remember this maxim, " Go light 
and travel slow." 

While there have been a few instances of men perishing 
from exposure in crossing the Summit in winter, yet a 
great many men have made the journey successfully, and 
during the past winter several men travelled almost the 
entire distance of the Yukon from the mouth to its source 
without a single mishap. 

Women can make the trip to the Yukon with as much 
ease and safety as men. The miner who has the funds 
to take his wife with him is thought by his fellows to be 
a very fortunate individual. It is surprising the amount 
of endurance women exhibit in encountering the cold, 
hardships, and fatigue in making this journey. Unless 
the wife is compelled to remain at home by the care of 
children too small to take along, we believe that she will 
be far happier by the side of her husband. The refining 
influence of woman is needed in the Yukon, and we 
recommend it. 

Let us offer another suggestion to those who are un- 
familiar with the hardships of frontier life and with 
travelling in a cold country. Learn from the outset to 
depend upon your own resources and not upon partners. 
In other words, " Every man for himself. " You will 
be better off in dollars and cents, and better off as far as 
your personal feelings are concerned, if you depend upon 
nobody but yourself. 

The very first thought of one new to travelling in 
Alaska is to secure a partner. He thinks it necessary to 
mate with some good fellow, but if he will take our 
advice, he will go it alone unless he knows his man better 



204 ALASKA 

than a brother; and if the time ever comes during his 
long journey when he needs someone to help him over a 
bad place, he will find men similarly situated who will 
want his aid and will gladly aid him in return. When 
once in the mining regions, if he needs a partner, then is 
the time to select one who will be congenial as well as 
helpful. If he should go with a party of one or more, 
remember that nothing is gained by arguments, disputes, 
and quarrels. The man who " says nothing but saws 
wood " will get to the Yukon first and easiest, while his 
wordy companions are debating by the wayside or re- 
turning home with their excuses for failure. 

The sled of a miner should be about seven feet four 
inches long, seven inches high, and sixteen inches wide, 
of strong but light timber, and the runners shod either 
with brass or steel, the former being preferable, because 
the sled will glide over the snow more smoothly in in- 
tensely cold weather, while steel is inclined to grind and 
lug very much. When the weather is cold, if water is 
taken into the mouth and held for a moment, then blown 
over the runner, a coating will form immediately, and if 
this process is repeated when it becomes a little worn off, 
one will be surprised to find how much smoother and 
easier the sled will draw. It is preferable to use the 
Eskimo mode of making sledges for Yukon travelling. 
They use no nails or bolts, binding the joints together 
with strong cords. There is much less danger of break- 
ing if made in this way, should the sled be overturned, 
as the joints will yield more easily when thus tied. 

In packing, men not accustomed to it will find that 
fifty pounds is quite enough to carry for the first few 



SUGGESTIONS TO PROSPECTORS 205 

days. After that the amount may be increased to one 
hundred pounds, but one mile is far enough to pack 
before returning to camp for another load. Then each 
night when you make camp you are within one mile at 
the farthest of your base of supplies. One cannot draw 
on a sled more than one hundred and fifty pounds day 
after day. A dog cannot draw on an average more than 
one hundred pounds over good roads, and the ordinary 
pack-horse cannot carry more than one hundred and fifty 
pounds. 

Should it ever become necessary to cache the supplies 
for any considerable time, the cache should be built on a 
scaffold seven feet above ground. Compass bearings to 
some prominent landmark should then be taken and the 
distance paced off and noted down. 

Do not load yourself down with firearms and ammuni- 
tion. A shotgun for small game is all that is needed. 
If a rifle is taken, let it be a 32-calibre Winchester or 
Savage repeating. 

Gold and silver are bought and sold by troy weight : 
24 grains, 1 pennyweight; 20 pennyweights, 1 ounce; 12 
ounces, 1 pound. 

All natural gold, that is, gold extracted from rocks or 
washed from the beds of streams, contains some alloy, 
generally silver, but sometimes platinum, copper, and 
tellurium. This is the reason some miners are dis- 
appointed when they sell their gold, as they imagine all 
gold to be pure. 

Bar diggings mean any part of a river over which the 
water extends when the river is in its flooded state, and 
which is not covered at low water. 



206 ALASKA 

Mines on benches are known as bench diggings. 

A legal post is a stake standing not less than four feet 
above the ground and squared on four sides for at least 
one foot from the top. 

The prevailing law in most districts in Alaska is that 
only one claim can be taken by a single individual in the 
same district, but the same miner may hold any number 
of claims by purchase, and any number of miners may 
unite to work their claims in common. 

Do not neglect providing yourself with at least one pair 
of eye-shades, and if possible get the kind used by Eski- 
mos. They are made of wood with a narrow cut extend- 
ing across the front. They give a perfect vision and do 
not heat, and when removed do not leave the disagreeable 
sensation of darkness or blurring, always felt after re- 
moving goggles. 

Make your loads as light and compact as possible. The 
folding camp-stove is by far the best. 

If possible procure Eskimo boots. They are light, 
warm, and dry, and the most comfortable boot made. 
Put grass or hay in the bottom instead of cork or sheep's- 
wool soles. 

In selecting your pack, get one having an air space be- 
tween the body and pack, which will prevent sweating 
when in use. 

Do not neglect mosquito-netting. Mosquitoes and 
gnats often assume the proportions of a scourge in 
Alaska, and have been known to drive bears wild. The 
gnats swarm about and prey upon the eyes, causing 
blindness unless they are protected. 

Never satisfy thirst with snow or ice, always melt first. 



SUGGESTIONS TO PROSPECTORS 207 

If caught in a snowstorm — Stop. Better freeze where 
you are than wander about only to succumb sooner or 
later to fatigue. 

The reference made to the articles of food and list of 
supplies given will serve as a general guide, but we would 
advise those going to Alaska to consider the subject of 
food from a scientific standpoint. 

It must be borne in mind that you are going to a 
climate far different from your own ; to a country where 
the thermometer may range within twelve months from 
90 F. above in summer to yo° F. below in winter, and 
this remarkable range of temperature should impress one 
with the importance of giving some heed to the quantity 
and character of foods necessary to preserve health in 
this country. 

You will find in Alaska the natural conditions and sur- 
roundings widely different from those you have been 
accustomed to, and you will doubtless be surprised that 
your system yearns for food that you never before have 
been able to eat and digest, such, for instance, as fatty 
and oily foods. If you have been unable to eat them 
here, in Alaska they will be found to agree with you, 
especially during cold weather. 

The demand upon the system for heat and energy is 
greater in Alaska than in temperate climes, and it requires 
food of such a nature as will produce these requisites in 
the body. Scientific analyses, as well as the experiments 
carried on for years in the Arctic regions by Greely, 
Peary, and Nansen, have shown that foods containing 
fats and oils are more nutritious and heat-producing than 
any other class of foods. 



208 ALASKA 

It has also been demonstrated that in a cold climate 
one can subsist longer on little food if warmly clad than 
on an abundance of food and light raiment. 

In some countries bacon, hardtack, and coffee might 
answer as a regular diet, where other foods could be 
obtained that would counteract the tendency to diseases 
that these articles alone would produce, such as scurvy. 
In a cold climate this dreaded disease must be guarded 
against, and to do so one must provide himself with de- 
siccated or condensed fruits, such as apples and peaches 
or raisins and currants, none of which are liable to spoil 
in variable temperature. Do not provide yourself with 
canned fruits, for they .are too bulky and occupy six times 
the space that other fruits containing the same amount of 
nourishment do; the per cent, of nourishment in canned 
vegetables and fruits is very slight, being composed 
mostly of water. 

Do not depend too much upon, and do not use, baking- 
powder bread when other can be had. The mixing of 
pancakes and bread with baking-powder is so easily and 
quickly done that, before one knows it, he forms a habit 
of using it constantly. A steady diet of baking-powder 
bread is positively injurious, as the powder contains 
strong alkalies which injure digestion and will ruin the 
stomach. At every opportunity whenever a stop is 
made, make a batch of bread of yeast or sour dough. 
Even the common mixture of flour, water, and salt is far 
better than baking-powder bread as a steady diet. 

If we were to recommend but a single article of food, 
among the whole list of foods here given, as a meat 
ration, it would be pemmican. Its components are meat, 



SUGGESTIONS TO PROSPECTORS 20g 

tallow, raisins, currants, and sugar. It is compressed 
into the smallest space, and a ten-pound package will 
last several months. When the package is opened, it 
may be used as wanted without danger of spoiling. A 
small amount can be dug out, emptied into the frying- 
pan and warmed into a delicious dish in a few moments. 

While coffee is relished highly by most men, tea will 
be found to be not only the most convenient to prepare, 
but the most faithful standby, and on a long tramp one 
who rarely ever cared for tea in civilisation would be 
surprised to find that his frugal meal is not complete 
without this beverage. In all cold countries, notably 
Russia and Canadian North America, tea only is relied 
upon as a quencher of thirst and as a stimulant. It has 
constant stimulating qualities, and, unlike coffee, which 
is apt to derange the digestion, it aids it. 

Do not under any circumstances indulge in liquor while 
travelling, and though we believe that one should never 
be without it in case of an emergency, it is unreliable as 
a strength promoter, and when one is subjected to severe 
exposure is positively dangerous. Stimulants tend to 
relax the nerves controlling the circulation and allow the 
blood to flow freely to the surface of the body ; thus so 
much of the blood is exposed to the cold that the heat of 
the body is lost, and the moment the effect of the stim- 
ulant is passed, the person is partially numbed, and the 
cold is felt more than before. If liquors are to be taken 
when food is scarce and starvation imminent, rum is best 
as a stimulant, as it is more of a food than the stronger 

liquors. 

14 



2IO ALASKA 

Provisions for One Man for One Year 
8 sacks flour, 50 lbs. each. 

2 " kiln-dried yellow corn-meal, 10 lbs each. 
1 " white " 10 " 

3 " rolled oats or steel-cut meal, 10 lbs. each. 
50 lbs. best Japan rice. 



3° 


evapor 


ated peaches. 


20 " 


' ' 


pitted plums. 


20 " 


" 


pears. 


20 " 


" 


apples. 


10 " 


< i 


and seeded raisins. 


30 


4 ' 


apricots. 


5o " 


* * 


potatoes. 


10 " 


' ' 


onions. 



10 " soup vegetables. 

25 " fine granulated sugar. 
2000 saccharin tablets. 
6 5-cake packages of dry yeast. 

1 box mining candles, 14 oz. 
30 lbs. creamery butter. 

125 " best boneless bacon. 

25 " dried beef hams. 

25 " dry salt pork. 

6 4-oz. jars beef extract. 

6 cans pure cream tartar baking-powder, 1 lb. each, 

3 i-lb. packages of saleratus. 

2 sacks fine salt, 10 lbs. each; 100 lbs. coarse salt. 

1 lb. each of pure ground pepper and mustard. 
\ tl " " " " ginger and cinnamon. 
i " pure ground nutmeg. 

20 lbs. best green coffee. 

5 " tea. 

2 gross matches. 

48 cans condensed milk. 

6 cakes laundry soap. 
6 " tar soap. 

6 " floating soap. 

4 bottles Jamaica ginger, 8 oz. 



SUGGESTIONS TO PROSPECTORS 211 

ioo lbs. beans. 

40 " hard pilot bread. 

10 " each, split peas and pearl barley. 

25 " dried green corn. 

1 qt. evaporated vinegar. 

2 gals, pickles. 

10 lbs. pemmican. 
20 lbs. oleomargarine. 

Drugs 
Cathartic pills. 
Quinine. 
Rhubarb root. 

Boracic acid powder for the feet. 
Arnica. 
Witch hazel. 
Plaster. 

Clothing 

2 suits waterproof Mackinaw underwear. 
2 " lighter weight underwear. 
2 heavy wool overshirts. 

1 Mackinaw coat. 

2 cotton overshirts. 

1 pair Mackinaw pants. 

2 pairs overalls. 

6 " heavy wool socks. 

6 " German socks. 

6 " cotton socks. 

2 " heavy blankets, pure wool. 

3 " wool mittens. 

1 pair wool-lined leather mittens. 
1 heavy cap. 

1 wide brim hat. 

2 sweaters. 

1 pair heavy suspenders. 

6 towels. 

6 bandana handkerchiefs. 

1 pair snag-proof rubber boots. 

1 " leather hunting boots. 



212 ALASKA 

i pair miner's high shoes. 

i " rubber shoes 

i fur or fleece-lined sleeping-bag. 

Hardware 

i pair snowshoes. 

i sled. 

i sheet-iron folding stove. 

i miner's pick, steel point. 

i prospector's pick. 

i extra pick-handle. 

i long-handle, round-point, half-spring shovel. 

i whipsaw. 

i 5-foot cross-cut saw. 

2 flat saw-files. 

i 28-inch rip-saw. 

1 hand saw. 

2 hand-saw files. 

1 single-bit, axe, and helve. 

1 whetstone and emery. 

1 hunter's hatchet. 

1 claw-hammer. 

1 prospecting sharpening hammer. 

1 calking-iron. 

1 jack-plane. 

1 draw-knife. 

1 10-inch brace. 

3 bits — j-inch, f-inch, and i-inch. 

2 spools No. 20 copper wire. 

1 lb. assorted rivets and burrs. 
1 8-inch monkey-wrench. 
1 6-inch screw-driver. 
1 2-foot rule. 
1 6-inch magnet. 

1 kit awls and tools. 

2 papers 8- and 10-oz. tacks. 

3 chisels — J-inch, -§-inch, and i-inch. 

4 packages hobnails. 
2 padlocks and keys. 



SUGGESTIONS TO PROSPECTORS 213 

2 8-inch hasps and staples. 

2 pairs 5-inch snap hinges and screws. 

1 gross |-inch and f-inch screws. 

5-lb. flask of quicksilver. 

1 can-opener. 

1 chalk-line and chalk. 

1 spirit thermometer. 

1 pair shears. 

1 heavy pocket-knife. 

2 acme frying-pans. 

1 granite coffee-pot. 

2 " plates. 
2 " cups. 
6 tin spoons. 

1 basting spoon. 

2 granite buckets, 6- and 8-quart. 
1 coil electric solder. 

3 knives and forks, heavy. 
1 gold-pan. 

1 4-0Z. gold-scale. 
1 pocket compass. 

1 magnifying glass. 
Lot fishing tackle. 

25 lbs. assorted wire nails. 
200 feet J-inch Manila rope. 
3 lbs. oakum. 
3 " pitch. 

2 " tallow. 

1 pair steelyards. 

1 scythe stone. 

1 pair pack-straps. 

1 hunter's knife and sheath. 

1 cold chisel. 

3 sacks, needles, and hank of twine. 
1 wall tent, 8 x 10, 8-oz. duck, 

1 tarpaulin. 

1 hand-bellows. 

1 single-barrel repeating shotgun, fixed ammunition. 

1 pair Eskimo eye-shades. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 

THE early founders of the American nation, who 
sought an asylum in New England, free from the 
religious intolerance and oppression of the mother 
country, declared that they offered a shelter to the 

oppressed of every nation." The invitation thus ex- 
tended by the early pioneers was generous, and how it 
has been taken advantage of is evidenced to-day by the 
fact that the United States has a cosmopolitan population. 

Those who sought these shores to make homes and be- 
come good citizens have been welcomed. They have 
had the protection of Government and have become 
factors in the upbuilding of the Republic. And the open 
arms and generous freedom which the United States has 
ever extended to kinsmen over the water are traits that 
but typify our national characteristics. No sentries have 
been stationed on crag or promontory to warn off in- 
truders; no large standing army has been maintained in 
order that the people might exercise all their rights of 
citizenship. Differences with other nations which have 
arisen from time to time have been, for the most part, 
settled by arbitration. Sometimes we have had our 
rights acknowledged, and at others we have acquiesced 

214 



THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 21 5 

in unfavourable decisions, that the credit and honour of 
the nation might be maintained and that peaceful rela- 
tions might be sustained. No spirit of national aggran- 
disement has been manifest in the history of the United 
States. The notable wars of this nation have been 
waged in the name of life and liberty, and for the united 
country. 

For a number of years prior to the releasing of the fur- 
seal islands, which occurred in 1890, the United States 
declared that Bering Sea was a closed sea, and as such, 
the fur seal could not be hunted in those waters unless 
subject to such rules and regulations as this Government 
saw fit to promulgate. 

This position was opposed by Great Britain, and the 
dispute resulted in submitting the question to a tribunal 
which convened in Paris in 1893. 

The award of this tribunal was disastrous to us, and 
seems to have been most unjust, but as an advanced 
civilised nation, our honour would be impugned were it 
not strictly adhered to. No nation worthy of the name 
can afford to besmirch its reputation by any attempt to 
repudiate a solemn compact. Hardly had the decision 
of the Paris tribunal been handed down, before the 
attention of the country was called to a matter in which 
England again became the aggressor, and that, too, in 
connection with the Territory of Alaska. This is the so- 
called boundary dispute between Canada and the United 
States, embracing a portion of South-eastern Alaska. 
While the British and Canadian authorities have been 
active, our Government and people have shown an apa- 
thetic spirit in dealing with the question ; but it is now 



2l6 ALASKA 

noted that attention is being directed to it, largely 
through the instrumentality of citizens of Alaska and 
the State of Washington who are conversant with the 
question, and the importance of this strip of territory, 
from commercial and geographical aspects, being retained 
to the northern territory and to the United States. We 
believe that it is time for a re-enunciation of the patriotic 
principle contained in the Monroe Doctrine, if our self- 
respect as a nation cannot be otherwise maintained — 
" that the United States will not permit European inter- 
ference or European control in America, north or south." 

In view of the importance of this question to the 
United States, and especially to Alaska, it is in order 
here to consider the subject in its various details. The 
claim made by the British Government, acting at the 
instance of Canada, embraces a valuable strip of land, a 
portion of which is the key to a vast extent of the 
interior of Alaska, rich in mineral and other resources. 
Though the immense value of this land cannot be ac- 
curately determined, a knowledge of its geographical 
position on the coast shows that great commercial ad- 
vantages will accrue from its possession, and that the 
United States cannot afford to be otherwise than firm 
and aggressive in asserting and maintaining our rights to 
ownership of this strip. 

An interpretation of the treaty concluded between 
Russia and England in 1825 clearly establishes the line 
of demarcation between what is now Alaska and what 
constitutes a portion of Canada. 

This treaty was brought about primarily by a ukase 
of the Russian Czar, issued in 1821, to the effect that 



THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 2\J 

foreign vessels would not be allowed to approach within 
one hundred miles of Russian America. Negotiations 
followed this ukase, resulting in the treaty between 
Russia and England in 1825, wherein Russia accepted 54 
degrees and 40 minutes north latitude as the southern 
limit of her possessions. The treaty was couched in the 
following language : 

" Sec. 3. The line of demarcation between the possessions 
of the high contracting parties upon the coast of the continent 
and the islands of America to the north-west, shall be drawn in 
the following manner: Commencing from the southernmost 
point of the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point 
lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, and 
between the 131 and 133 degrees of west longitude, the same 
line shall ascend to the north along the channel called Port- 
land Channel as far as the point of the continent where it 
strikes the 56 degree of north latitude; from this last men- 
tioned point the line of demarcation shall follow the summit 
of the mountains situated parallel to the coast, as far as the 
point of intersection of the 141 degree of west longitude (of 
the same meridian), and finally, from the said point of inter- 
section of the 141 degree, in its prolongation as far as the 
frozen ocean, shall form the limit between the Russian and 
British possessions on the continent of America to the north- 
west. 

"Sec. 4. .That wherever the summit of the mountains, 
which extend in a direction parallel to the coast from the 56 
degree of north latitude to the point of intersection of the 141 
degree of west longitude, shall prove to be at the distance of 
more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, the limit be- 
tween the British possessions and the line of coast which is to 
belong to Russia as above mentioned, shall be formed by a 
line parallel to the windings of the coast, and which shall never 
exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom." 

It will be noted that at the time of the purchase of 



218 ALASKA 

Russian America by the United States, in 1867, the 
limits of the territory were described in the articles of 
cession by Russia in the exact language which appears 
in this treaty above referred to. It will also be observed 
that the name Portland Canal is mentioned as the eastern 
boundary as far north as the fifty-sixth degree north 
latitude. 

At the time of the treaty between Russia and England 
little was known of this region, save through the explora- 
tions of Captain George Vancouver. In his narrative 
published towards the close of the last century, he speaks 
of Portland Canal, and also located a certain rock in 
Behm Canal, which he named New Eddystone Rock. 

When the treaty of 1825 was made, England recognised 
the claim of Russia to the territory as far east as Portland 
Canal, and continued this recognition until the purchase 
was made by the United States in 1867. For more than 
twenty years preceding the treaty, the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany paid Russia an annual rental for the privilege of 
trading in the inland waters to the north-west of Portland 
Canal, and our Government maintained a garrison at Fort 
Tongas at the mouth of this canal until 1870 and a 
custom-house until 1889. 

The maps issued by the United States since the Alaska 
purchase and those published by the British authorities 
followed generally the same line of demarcation until the 
year 1887. At that time a change was noticed in the 
British maps, for their line was then made to extend 
within the limits defined by the maps of our Government. 
Hence, it is only fair to infer that when this strip of land 
became better known to England, and its value more or 



THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 2 1 9 

less accurately determined, a first attempt was made to 
set up a claim to the territory through the medium of 
maps published by the British Government. 

And the claim once set up, it may be further inferred 
that in any negotiations which should follow, England 
would rely upon the power of British craft and diplomacy 
to win both the point and the territory. The policy 
pursued by the English Government in this matter is 
entirely in keeping with the method of aggrandisement 
that has been followed for hundreds of years by Great 
Britain. 

The line of demarcation followed by the United States 
extended ten marine leagues back from salt water into 
the interior, claiming a strict interpretation of the articles 
of cession from Russia, whose language was construed to 
mean ten marine leagues, or thirty-four miles inland, from 
every point ; , whether bay or inlet, where salt water washed 
the shores of the mainland, unless a defined range of 
mountains intervened running parallel with the coast, in 
which case the summit of such range became the limit. 

The British claim that, where the summits of the mount- 
ains are not within the ten-marine-league limit, the 
boundary shall be that distance from the main channels 
of water. They also claim that the eastern boundary 
shall run due north from the southernmost point of Prince 
of Wales Island until it intersects Behm Canal ; thence 
following this channel north as far as the fifty-sixth de- 
gree of north latitude ; thence following the line of the 
coast to the intersection of the one hundred and forty 
first degree of west longitude. Nowhere along the coast 
between Portland Canal and Mt. St. Elias does there ap- 



220 ALASKA 

pear to be a defined range of mountains, but rather a 
confused jumble, having no regularity of course or bearing 
any relation to each other, and the noble peak, Mt. St. 
Elias, that defines the boundary between the British pos- 
sessions and our Territory at the one hundred and forty- 
first degree of west longitude, stands solitary and alone 
in its awe-inspiring magnificence. 

By reference to our map, it will be observed that in 
taking Portland Canal as the eastern limit, an eastward 
course must be followed from the southernmost point of 
Prince of Wales Island in order to reach said canal. It 
will also be noted that from the extreme northern limit 
of Portland Canal to the nearest salt water — that of 
Walker Cove, an arm of Behm Canal — is about thirty- 
four miles. It is therefore fair to presume that in taking 
the canal for a boundary, it was with a view of measuring 
from the inland waters, and not the main channels. It 
is also worthy of note that, if it was not intended to take 
this canal for the eastern boundary, it would not have 
been necessary to mention it in the treaty, and the 
simple reference, due north, would have been all that 
was necessary to convey the intent. 

It is also claimed by the British that this canal could 
not have been intended, because it does not extend to the 
fifty-sixth degree. It is true that it does not reach that 
point by about one mile, but if it were five or even ten 
miles shorter, it would not be any stronger for the other 
side, for, in the language of the treaty, " the same line 
shall ascend to the north along the channel called Port- 
land Channel as far as the point of the continent where 
it strikes the 56 degree," the line is what is intended 



THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 221 

should strike the fifty-sixth degree, and not the channel. 
Should, then, the claim of Great Britain be finally al- 
lowed, she will acquire a strip of country seventy-five by 
one hundred miles in extent between Portland and Behm 
Canals, which rightfully belongs to the United States. 

While stress is laid upon the encroachments that this 
boundary line of the British would make upon our eastern 
coast, it cannot be too clearly demonstrated, that where 
their boundary line deflects westward at about fifty-eight 
degrees forty minutes north, and thence follows to the 
one hundred and thirty-sixth degree of west longitude, 
and there takes a south-westerly course to Mt. St. Elias, 
is to be found a strip of coast territory upon which the 
natural greed of England has particularly set its eye. 

The British claim to this one hundred square miles of 
territory would also include Glacier Bay, the most won- 
derful body of water in the world. It is about twenty 
miles wide by forty long. Ten other glaciers besides the 
celebrated Muir Glacier pour their huge bodies into this 
magnificent bay, and then move on through channels 
many fathoms deep out into the sea. Snow-clad mount- 
ains with their deep ravines, moraines, and mountainous 
gorges fringe the bay on all sides, and help to form one 
of the most enchanting and delightful spots that the 
imagination can conceive. 

It is well known that a foreign ship cannot land passen- 
gers on American soil without conforming to certain laws, 
and as long as Glacier Bay is in United States territory, 
British ships cannot transport tourists travelling over 
Canadian roads and land them in this bay. Neither can 
foreign ships discharge foreign goods in American terri- 



222 ALASKA 

tory without observing certain customs regulations. But 
if the English should acquire territory inside any of the 
inland waters of Lynn Canal, they could establish sta- 
tions, construct trails or waggon routes into the interior, 
and offer serious competition to American merchants for 
the control of the enormous trade of the vast interior 
country. 

It is clearly apparent that many reasons besides the 
mere desire to acquire a strip of land cause England to 
push her claim to a settlement of the boundary question 
in her favour. 

In our controversy with England many years ago over 
the northern boundary of the Territory of Oregon, which 
gave rise to the cry, " Fifty-four forty or fight," our 
claim was that the United States boundary should extend 
to the point where our Alaskan possessions now begin ; 
and had we not weakly receded from our position, the 
stretch of British territory which lies between the State 
of Washington and Alaska might have been ours, thus 
giving us a continuous coast-line from California to the 
Polar Sea. 

That it is clearly the intention of the Canadian Govern- 
ment, backed by England, to secure this strip of territory 
is unmistakable. For the past two years the labours of 
the Canadian Boundary Commission have been marked by 
a determination to obtain all possible information con- 
cerning the disputed territory. Government engineers 
and surveyors have been indefatigable in their explorations 
to secure in detail thorough and exhaustive knowledge, 
which will be placed before the joint commission when 
the boundary question again comes up for adjudication. 



THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 223 

There is no doubt that the Canadian Government will 
make out the strongest possible case, and in this it will 
be aided by the intimate knowledge of the country gained 
by the actual investigation of their engineers. But it 
seems to us that a correct interpretation of the treaty of 
1825, coupled with a firm presentation of our case, should 
leave the British claim without any support whatever, 
and with such vigorous assertion of our rights, Alaska 
will not be despoiled of a valuable portion of her heritage. 

Table of Distances 

NAUTICAL MILES. 

San Francisco to Seattle 820 

San Francisco to Sitka (outside) 1295 

San Francisco to Dutch Harbour or Unalaska (outside) 2400 

Seattle to Juneau 976 

Seattle to Dutch Harbour or Unalaska 2000 

Seattle to Port Townsend 38 

Seattle to Sitka (outside) 850 

Port Townsend to Victoria 32 

Victoria to Nanaimo 76 

Nanaimo to Seymour Narrows 80 

Seymour Narrows to Mary Island 455 

Mary Island to Ketchikan 40 

Ketchikan to New Metlakahtla 16 

Ketchikan to Loring 25 

Loring to Yaas Bay 19 

Loring to Wrangel 90 

Wrangel to Telegraph Creek 200 

Telegraph Creek to Teslin Lake 130 

Wrangel to Wrangel Narrows 32 

Wrangel Narrows to Juneau 96 

Juneau to Treadwell Mill 2^ 

Juneau to Berner's Bay 46 

Juneau to Chilkat 90 



224 ALASKA 

NAUTICAL MILES. 

Juneau to Dyea ioo 

Chilkat to Glacier Bay 146 

Glacier Bay to Sitka 158 

Juneau to Sitka 185 

Sitka to Killisnoo 72 

Sitka to Hot Springs 15 

Sitka to Yakutat 210 

Sitka to Nuchek 440 

Sitka to Kadiak 560 

Sitka to Karluk 628 

Sitka to Unga 888 

Sitka to Sand Point -. 882 

Sitka to Belkoff sky 942 

Sitka to Dutch Harbour or Unalaska 1250 

Dutch Harbour to Seal Islands 220 

Dutch Harbour to St. Michaels 745 

Dutch Harbour to Bering Strait 820 

Bering Strait to Point Hope 250 

Point Hope to Point Barrow 300 

Point Barrow to mouth of Mackenzie River 550 

Table of Distances from Dyea, Head of Steamboat Navi- 
gation, over the Pass to Dazvson 

MILES. 

Dyea to head of canoe navigation 6 

Head of canoe navigation to summit of Chilkoot Pass. . 9 

Summit to head of Lake Lindeman Z\ 

Head of Lake Lindeman to foot 6 

River or portage to head of Lake Bennett 1 

Head of Lake Bennett to foot 24 

Through Cariboo Crossing to head of Tagish Lake. ... 3 

Head of Tagish Lake to foot 19 

Through river to head of Lake Marsh 6 

Head of Lake Marsh to foot 19 

Foot of Lake Marsh to Canyon 25 

Through Canyon f 



THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 



225 



MILES. 

Foot of Canyon to White Horse Rapids 2 

Through White Horse Rapids \ 

Foot of White Horse Rapids to Tahkeena River 16 

Tahkeena River to head of Lake Le Barge 14 

Head of Lake Le Barge to foot 31 

Foot of Lake Le Barge to Hootalinqua River 30 

Hootalinqua River to Cassiar Bar 20 

Cassiar Bar to Big Salmon River 14 

Big Salmon River to Little Salmon River 37 

Little Salmon River to Five Fingers . „ 62 

Five Fingers to Rink Rapids d\ 

Rink Rapids to Pelly. River 55 

Pelly River to White River 97 

White River to Stewart River 9 

Stewart River to Sixty Mile River 21 

Sixty Mile River to Indian River 18 

Indian River to Dawson 43 

Dyea to Dawson 603J- 

Table of Distances from St. Michaels 



MILES. 

St. Michaels to Golofnin Bay 70 

' ' Unalaklik 75 

" Mouth of Yukon River 85 

' ' Andreafski 300 

" Nulato , 535 

" mouth of Koyukuk River 550 

" Munook Creek 780 

' ' Birch Creek 940 

' ' Fort Yukon 1005 

' ' Circle City 1095 

" Eagle City 1215 

" Forty Mile 1275 

' ' Dawson 1365 



INDEX. 



Act of March 3, 1890, 15 ; of March 
3, 1899, 10 ; of May 14, 1898, 

15 

Adams Creek, 193 

Admiralty Island, 43, 61, 140 

Advice, to travellers, 202, 203 ; con- 
cerning partners, 203, 204 ; con- 
cerning packing, 204, 205 ; about 
caching, 205 ; regarding pack, 
206 

Agassiz Glacier, 24 

Agriculture, results of experiments 
in, 36 

Akutan Island, 24 

Al-ak-shak, meaning of, 6 

Alaska, original name of, 1 ; pur- 
chase of, 5 ; reasons for purchase, 
5, 6 ; aboriginal name of, 6 ; ex- 
tent of, 6 ; Charles Sumner sug- 
gested name of, 6 ; disparagement 
by A. C. Co. of, 8 ; population 
of, 9 ; first government of, 9 ; 
first convention in, 9 ; prohibition 
in, 10 ; district of, 17 ; topo- 
graphy of, 21 ; two great divisions 
of, 21 ; guiding landmarks of, 
23 ; no large towns in, 31 ; health- 
ful climate of, 33 ; enormous ex- 
ports from, 83 

Alaska Commercial Company, 6, 
46 ; greatness of, 7 

Alaskan, published at Sitka, 149 

Alder timber, 53 

Aleut houses, 115 

Aleutian Islands, description of, 23 

Alexandria Archipelago, 60, 70 

Alloys gold may be mixed with, 205 

All-water route, 151 

America, attitude of, toward other 
nations, 214 

Ancon, steamer, 133 

Andreafski River, 165 



Animals, land and sea, 63 

Annette ^land, 41 

Anvik River, 162, 187 ; staking off 
claims discouraged in vicinity of, 
187 

Appropriations, for experimental 
agriculture, 36 ; for schools, 117 

Arbuzoff, Olga, T47, 148 

Argument in favour of measuring 
from inland waters, 220 

Arkel Lake, 173 

Articles of Cession, limits of terri- 
tory described in, 218 ; from 
Russia strictly interpreted by 
United States, 219 

Athabasca, Lake, 175 ; Landing, 174, 
175 ; River, 175 

Atka Island, 24, 70, 71 

Atmosphere, humidity of, 34 

Attu Island, 70, 71, 121 

Austin, Rev. E. A. and Mrs., 122 

Back-door Route, 174 ; settlements 
found at convenient distances, 
174 ; lies through fish and game 
country, 174 ; lies over old track 
used by Hudson Bay Co., 174, 

175 
Baking-powder bread, 208 
Bald Eagle Mine, 42 
Ball, Mottrom D., 9 
Bar digging, 206 
Baranoff, Alexander, 146 
Baranoff Castle, 147 
Bean, Edward, 179 
Bean, Professor, 56 
Bear, brown, 72 ; black, 74 ; polar, 

77 
Bear Creek, 193 
Bear's Nest Mine, 40 
Beaver, 72 
Beaver Creek, 166 



227 



228 



INDEX 



Bed-rock Creek, 181 

Behm Canal, 25, 218-221 

Bench claims, 199 ; legal size of, 
200 

Bench diggings, 206 

Bennett Lake, 154 ; character of 
country around, 154 ; timber at, 
154 ; saw-mill at, 154 ; kind of 
boats built, 154 ; trail from Sum- 
mit to, 168 ; trail from Shallow 
Lake, 168 

Bering Island, 2 

Bering Sea declared a closed sea by 
United States, 215 

Bering Strait, discovery of, 1 ; as- 
pect of country at, 26 ; shallow 
water of, 27 ; railroad at, 27 ; im- 
possible to bridge, 27 

Bering, Vitus, his first expedition, 
1 ; its object, 1 ; second expedi- 
tion, 2 ; his death and burial, 2 

Berners Bay, 43 

Berry, Mrs. Clarence, 196 

Bertholf, Lieutenant, heroism of, 90 

Big Hill, 167 

Big Windy Arm, 155 

Big Salmon River, 178 ; gold found 
on, 178 

Birch Creek, 161, 166, 1S0, 183, 
184 ; promises well, 184 ; filled 
with rapids and canyons, 184 

Black sand, value of, 51 ; specific 
gravity of, 51 

Blackett, C. S., 15 

Boats, Eskimo skin, 101 

Bogoston, Mt., volcano, 24 

Bonanza Creek, 193 

Bonanza kings, 195 

Boots, Eskimo, 206 

Boundary, dispute arises, 215 ; em- 
braces portion of Alaska, 215 ; 
importance of strip involved, 216 

Bristol, 144 

Buckland River, 50 

Burning process, 198 

Cable tramway over Summit, 153 
Cache, how and where to build, 205 
Calgary, 175 

Call, Dr., heroism of, 90 
Canadian Boundary Commission, 222 
Canadian customs officer, 155 
Canadian duties, rate of, 155 
Canadian laws, regarding placer 

claims, 199 ; allow lease of mineral 

land, 200 



Canadian Pacific Railroad, 175 

Canadian Pacific Telegraph Co., 172 

Canal, Behm, 25 

Candle-fish, 61 

Canneries, salmon, 57 ; opposition 

of, 58 ; employees of, 58 
Cannibalism formerly practised by 

Indians, no 
Canoes, Indian, 114 
Canyon, 152, 156 ; of Copper River, 

45 
Cape Prince of Wales, 26 ; character 

of country at, 28 
Cariboo, 78, 172 
Cariboo Crossing, 155 
Carmach, J. W., probable discoverer 

of Klondike, 192, 193 ; finds gold 

on Bonanza Creek, 193 ; his 

discovery causes stampede, 193 
Carroll, Capt. James, efforts of, 15, 

16 
Carving and engraving by Indians, 

113 

Cassiar Bar, gold found at, 178 

Cedar, red, 52 ; yellow, 52 

Census, Alaska's last, 9 

Chapman Creek, 186 

Chatham Sound, 131 

Chilkat, 35 

Chilkat Inlet, 138 

Chilkat Pass Route, 173 

Chilkat River, 173 

Chilkoot Inlet, 138 

Chilkoot Pass Route, 151 

Chim-sy-an natives, 132 

Chinook jargon, 109 

Chippewyan, Fort, 175 

Church, Episcopal, 119 ; Roman 
Catholic, 119 

Circle City, 158; when founded, 
161 ; improvements in, 161 ; for- 
merly rival of Forty Mile, 184; 
abandoned in 1896 for Klondike, 
184 ; trail from, 184 

Clams, 62 

Climate, of interior, 33; diversity of , 

33 
Coal Creek, 174, 177 
Coal deposits, 53, 54 
Cobb, F. W., 193 
Codfish industry, 59, 60 
Committee, National Republican, 13 
Congress, Memorial to, 13, 17 
Constantine, Chas., inspector, 195 
Consumption, natives afflicted with, 

26 



INDEX 



229 



Convention, National Democratic, 

13 ; delegates to, 13 ; organisation 

of Republican, 13 
Cook, Capt., early explorations of, 3 
Cook Inlet, 2, 23, 45 
Copper River, 44, 53 ; gold district 

of, 44 ; Indians of, 44 ; navigation 

of, 44 
Cottonwood timber, 52 
Crabs, 62 
Crater Lake, 153 
Creeks, may be worked in winter, 

189 ; original custom of working, 

189 ; present method of working, 

189 
Creek, Adams, 193 ; Bear, 193 ; 

Beaver, 166 ; Bed-rock, 181 ; 

Birch, 161, 166, 180, 183, 184, 

185 ; Bonanza, 193 ; Chapman, 

186 ; Coal, 174, 177 ; Crooked, 
184 ; Dominion, 182 ; Eldorado, 
193 ; Fish, 187 ; Forty Mile, 180, 
182, 1S3 ; Glacier, 45, 180, 181 ; 
Gold, 186; Gold Bottom, 193; 
Granite, 186 ; Hamilton, 186 ; 
Hoosier, 186 ; Hunker, 193 ; In- 
dependence, 184, 185 ; Link, 45 ; 
Little Miller, 186 ; Mastodon, 
184, 185 ; Melsing, 48 ; Miller, 
180, 181 ; Mills, 45 ; Molymute, 
184 ; Munook, 161, 162, 185, 186 ; 
North Fork, 187 ; Ophir, 47, 49 ; 
Preacher, 185 ; Resurrection, 45 ; 
Ruby, 186 ; Seventy Mile, 184 ; 
Six Mile, 45 ; Sixty Mile, 158, 
180 ; South Fork, 187 ; Sulphur, 
182 ; Telegraph, 170, 172 ; Too 
Much Gold, 193 ; Wild, 187 

Cremation formerly practised by 

Indians, no 
Crillon, Mt., 24 

Criminal Procedure, Code of, 18 
Cudahy, Fort, 161, 174, 177 
Cutoff, 167 

Dahl, Conrad, 189 

Dall, Prof., 93 

Dalton, Jack, 139, 173 

Dalton Route, 173 

Darkness does not interfere with 

work in summer, 188 
Davidoff, Demetrius, 148 
Davidson Glacier, 139 
Davidson, Prof., 178 
Dawson, metropolis of great Yukon 

basin, 158 ; ruled by Gold Com- 



missioner of North-west Territory, 
159; no mining license at, 159; 
substitute for mining license, 159 ; 
no enterprise undertaken without 
permit, 159 : controlled by mount- 
ed police, 159 ; wages per day 
paid to miners, 159 ; how early in 
summer prospectors can reach, 
160 ; founded by Ladue, 197 ; 
population of, 197 ; timber sparse, 
197 ; logs floated down in rafts to, 
197 

Daylight for two months in summer, 
188 

Deep Lake, 153 

Deer, 78 

Delegate to Congress, President 
might appoint, 19 

Depue, C. F., 15 

Devil's Thumb, 136 

Diomede Islands, 27 

Discoveries in Yukon basin previous 
to Klondike, 180 

Disputed territory, what United 
States claims regarding, 219, 220 ; 
what Britain claims, 219, 220 ; ex- 
tent of, 221 ; intention of Canada 
to secure this strip, 222, 223 ; 
Canadian Government securing all 
possible information regarding, 
222, 223 

Dixon Entrance, 131 

Doctors or shamans, n I 

Dog, Eskimo, 91 ; worthlessness of 
St. Bernard and Newfoundland, 92 

Dominion Creek, 182 

Douglas Island, 138 

Druggists, sale of liquor by, n 

Ducks, 80 

Dump, 198 

Duncan, Rev. Wm., 120 

Dusty Diamond Company, 48 

Dyea, 152 

Dyea Route, 151 ; distance to head- 
waters of Yukon over, 151, 152 ; 
Indians prefer, 153 ; prices paid 
for packing over, 153 

Eagle, bald and gray, 79 
Eddystone lighthouse, 25 
Edgecombe, Mt., 149, 150 
Edmonton, 174, 175 
Edwards, teacher, 122 
Eldorado Creek, 193 
England, recognises claim of Rus- 
sia, 218 ; will rely upon British 



230 



INDEX 



England — Continued. 

diplomacy to secure her claim, 
2ig ; policy of Government of, 219 

English, explorations of, 3 

Eskimos, their number, 28 ; starv- 
ing condition, 84 ; origin of, 93 ; 
resemblance of Japanese to, 94 ; 
their characteristics, 94 ; twins, 94; 
vast extent of habitat of, 95 ; huts 
of, 95 ; features of, 98 ; slaves to 
tobacco, 100 ; skin boat and canoe 
of, 101, 103 ; personal adornments 
of, 104 ; style of clothing of, 104 ; 
mackintosh of, 105 ; polygamy 
practised by, 105 ; physical con- 
struction of, 105 ; dancing princi- 
pal amusement of, 106 ; have no 
religious belief, 107 

Esquimalt, 129 

Experimental stations, 35 

Experiments in agriculture, results 
of, 36 

Eyeshades, Eskimo, 206 

Fairweather, Mt., 24 

Fanshaw, Cape, 136 

Fare, from Seattle to Dyea or Skag- 
uay, 201 ; from Seattle to Daw- 
son, 201 

Field, Miss Kate, 18 

" Fifty-four forty or fight," 222 

Fiords, 22 

Firearms, 205 

First school in Alaska, 118 

Fish Creek, 187 

Fish River, 46, 47 

Fitz-Hugh Sound, 131 

Five Fingers, 53 ; why so named, 
156, 157 ; where to land above, 
157 ; how to make the run past, 

157 

Flag, lowering of Russian, 7 

Fogs, prevalence of, 23 

Folding-stove, 206 

Food, considered from scientific 
standpoint, 207-209; system 
yearns for fatty and oily, 207 ; 
heat-producing, 207 

Fort, Chippewyan, 175 ; Cudahy, 
161, 174, 177; Good Hope, 176; 
McMurray, 175; McPherson, 176; 
Norman, 176 ; Providence, 176 ; 
Resolution, 176; Selkirk, 157, 
173 ; Simpson, 176 ; Smith, 175 ; 
Tongas, garrison and custom- 
house at, 218 ; Wrigley, 176 



Forty Mile, 158, 160, 199; A. C. 
Co.'s station at, 160 ; population 
of, 160 ; Joseph Cooper's residence 
at, 160 ; quoted as ideal 1849 
mining camp, 160 

Forty Mile Creek, 180 ; familiar to 
all miners, 182 ; bars have yielded 
large returns, 182 ; drains vast 
country, 182 ; discovered in 1887, 
182; rises in Canadian territory, 182 

Fox, black, 75 ; blue, 76 ; cross, 76 ; 
red, 74; silver-grey, 76 ; white, 76 

Franklyn Gulch, 189 

French Pete, 39 

Fruits, kind of, to be taken, 20S 

Funta Bay, 43 

Fur seals, restriction on killing, 65 ; 
manner of killing, 66 ; controversy 
about, 68 ; prohibition of killing, 
70 

Fur Seal Islands, 63 ; lease of, 6, 
70, 215 ; expiration of lease, 8 

Galena deposits, 47 

Galvin, Pat, 195 , 

Garside, Gen, Geo. W., 15 

Gastineau Channel, 37, 136 

Geese, 80 

Glacier, Agassiz, 24 ; Davidson, 139 ; 
Malespina, 145, 150; Muir, 140, 
144, 145, 221 ; Patterson, 136 

Glacier Bay, 43, 143, 221 

Glacier Creek, 45, 180; rich finds 
on, 181 ; entirely located, 181 

Glaciers, 145 

Glenora, 171 

Gnats, 206 

Gold, first discovery of, 33 ; first 
discovery of, in paying quantities 
in Yukon basin, 178 ; Munook, 
186 ; quartz deposits in interior 
probable, 189, 190 ; steamer in 
July, 1897, brought to Seattle a ton 
of, 194 ; output of 1898 far ex- 
ceeds 1897, 194, J95 ; bought and 
sold by Troy weight, 205 ; contains 
some alloy, 205 

Gold Commissioner of North-west 
Territory, 159 

Gold Creek, 42, 186 

Gold Bottom Creek, 193 

Golofnin Bay, 47 

Good Hope, Fort, 176 

Gould, I. Loomis, 122 

Government reservation at St. 
Michaels, 164 



INDEX 



23 



Grand Rapids, 175 

Granite Creek, 186 

Grasses, 35 

Great Britain opposes United States 

on Bering Sea question, 215 
Great Slave Lake, 176 
Greek Church, 149 
Greely, 207 

Grenville Channel, 131 
Guiding landmark, a, Priest Rock, 

25 ; New Eddystone Rock, 25 
Gulch claims, 199 ; present legal size 

of, 200 

Hair seal, 80 

Halibut, 60, 61 

Hamilton Creek, 186 

Hamlin, Assistant Secretary, 12 

Harris, Richard, 39 

Harrisburg, 39 

Harrison, Senator Benj., 10 

Hay River, 176 

Haynes, 139 

Healey, new location near St. 

Michaels, 164 
Hecate Strait, 131 
Hemlock timber, 52 
Herring, 61 
Holt, George, 178 
Homesteads, limit of, 16 
Hoochinoo, 109 
Hoonah hot springs, 26 
Hoosier Creek, 186 
Hootalinqua River, 156, 172, 178, 

179 
Hot springs, 25, 26 
Houses of natives, 115 ; of Aleuts, 

115 
Hudson Bay Co. paid Russia annual 

rental, 218 
Humming-birds, 79 
Hunker Creek, 193 
Hunter Creek, 186 

Ice, when it leaves Yukon, 188 ; 
when it forms, 188 ; never eat, 
206 

Icy Strait, 139 

Independence Creek, 184, 185 

Indian canoe, 114 

Indian River, 181, 182 ; rich gold 
discoveries on, 182 ; trail from 
Klondike to, 182 

Indians, origin of Alaska, 108 ; re- 
semblance to Eskimos, 108 ; lan- 
guage of, 108 ; fondness for liquor, 



109 ; witchcraft practised by, no ; 
cremation formerly practised, no ; 
cannibalism formerly practised, 
in 
Indian Trail, 178 
Industrial training schools, 118 
Inlet, Chilkat, 138 ; Chilkoot, 138 
Innoko River, 162, 165, 187 
Interior, best time to go into the, 
152 ; why Dominion Government 
has been searching for new route 
into, 170 ; why but little prospect- 
ing for quartz has been done in, 
190 ; companies now formed to 
prospect for quartz, 190 ; fair to 
suppose rich quartz ledges will be 
found, 190 
Island, Admiralty, 43, 61 ; Akutan, 
24; Annette, 41, 121 ; Atka, 24, 
70, 71 ; Attu, 70, 71 ; Bering, 2 ; 
Big and Little Diomede, 27 ; 
Douglas, 138 ; Fur Seal, 63 ; 
Kadiak, 57, 60 ; Kings, 84 ; Ku- 
rile, 70, 71 ; Magipopf, 60 ; Mary, 
132 ; Otter, 65 ; Pribilof, 63 ; 
Prince of Wales, 41, 219, 220 ; 
Shumagin, 60 ; Simeonoff, 60 ; St. 
George, 65 ; St. Paul, 65 ; Tongas, 
131 ; Unalaska, 24 ; Ungar, 46, 
60 ; Unimak, 24, 71 ; Valdez, 129 ; 
Vancouver, 129 

Jamestown, U. S. steamer, 39 

Japan current, 32 

Jarvis, Lieut., heroism of, 90 

Juan de Fuca, Strait of, 3, 128 

Judge, District, n 

Juneau, 38, 136, 201 ; discovery of 

gold near, 38 
Juneau, Joseph, 38 
Juvenal, Father, 122 

Kadiak, 23, 35, 146 ; Island, 57, 60, 
146 

Kakni River, 23 

Karluk, 57 ; River of Life, 58 

Kayak Island, 2 

Ketchikan, 133 

Killisnoo, 61 

Kings Island, 84 

Klanarchergut River, 165 

Klawak, 58 

Klondike, 30 ; gold first taken out 
from, 192 ; Carmach the probable 
discoverer of, 192 ; world startled 
by spring clean-up of 1897, 194 ; 



232 



INDEX 



Klondike — Continued. 

a phenomenal discovery, 194 ; esti- 
mate of gold output of, in 1898, 

195 ; remarkable scenes witnessed 
during first season, 196 ; character 
of country, 197 ; best pay-dirt in 
low swampy ground, T97 ; why 
called winter diggings, 198 ; depth 
to bed-rock, 198 ; difficulties of 
prospecting in, 198, 199 ; quartz 
probably plentiful in adjacent 
mountains, 200 ; richest mining 
region in Yukon valley, 200 

Klondike River, 158, 193 ; formerly 
known only as a creek for salmon, 

192 ; rich strikes on tributaries of, 

193 ; little gold found in the val- 
ley of, 194 ; source of, 196 ; head- 
waters have never been explored, 

196 ; bright future probable for 
Upper, 197 ; mouth of, 197 

Knik River, 45 
Koserefski Mission, 53 
Kotzebue Sound, 50 
Kowak River, 50 

Koyukuk River, 50, 162, 166, 180, 
186, 187 ; town located near, 187 
Kurile Islands, 70, 71 
Kuskoquim River, 32, 53, 188 
Kyak, 103 

Ladue, 192, 197 ; first Mayor of 
Dawson, 197 

Lakes, 22 

Lake, Arkel, 173 ; Athabasca, 175 ; 
Atlin, 180, Bennett, 154, 168 ; 
Crater, 153 ; Deep, 153 ; Great 
Slave, 176 ; Le Barge, 154, 156 ; 
Lindeman, 152, 153, 168 ; Long, 
153 ; Marsh, 155, 178 ; Middle, 
168 ; Shallow, 168 ; Summit, 168 ; 
Tagish, 155 ; Teslin, 170, 171 

Land districts, 17 

Land Office at Peavy, 187 

Land otter, 71 

Law, regarding claims, 206 ; grant- 
ing liquor license, 10, 11 ; exten- 
sion of Homestead, 15 

Le Barge, Lake, 154 ; timber for 
boat-building at, 154 ; length and 
width of, 156 ; how best to navig- 
ate, 156 

Legal post, 206 

Lewes River, 157, 178 

License, Liquor, 10-12 ; every branch 
of business must have. 18 



Liebes Company, 164 

Lighthouse, Eddystone, 25 

Lindeman Lake, 152, 153, 168 

Line of demarcation, followed by 
U. S., 219 ; followed by Britain, 
219 ; extended ten marine leagues 
back from salt-water, 219 

Link Creek, 45 

Lippy, Mrs., 196 

Liquor license, law granting, 10, n; 
fee for, n ; issuance of, ir ; diffi- 
culty of securing, n ; penalty of 
selling liquor without, 12 

Liquor question, importance of, 12 ; 
regarding smuggling, 12 ; diffi- 
culty of preventing smuggling, 12 

Liquor traffic, attempt to restrain, 11 

Little Miller Creek, 1S6 

Little Munook Creek, 186 

Little Windy Arm, 155 

Lituya Bay, 44 

Locating claim, 199 

Logan, Mt., 25 

Long Lake, 153 

Lopp, W. T., heroism of, 90, 122 ; 
Mrs., 122 

Loring, 133 ; hot springs at, 26 

Luigi, Prince, 144 

Lynn Canal, 29, 43, 138, 173, 222 ; 
railroad from, 29 

Lynx, 77 

Mackenzie River, 176 

Mackenzie River Route, 173, 174 

Makushin, Mt., 24 

Maps, similarity of British and 
American, 218 ; change noticed in 
British. 218 ; Britain sets up claim 
through medium of, 219 

Marsh, Lake, 155, 178 ; kinds of 
timber at, 155 

Marten, 76 

Mary Island, 132 

Mason, Prof. Otis T., 93 

Melsing Creek, 48 

Mexican mine, 43 

Middle Lake, 168 

Middle Route, Dominion Govern- 
ment made survey of, 170; gen- 
eral character of, 170 ; pack-trains 
proposed over, 170, 171 

Milbank Sound, 131 

Miller Creek, 180; length of, 181 ; 
claims located on, 181 ; why aban- 
doned, 181 ; prospecting began 
again in 1892, 181 



INDEX 



233 



Mills Creek, 45 

Mine, Bear's Nest, 39 ; Treadwell, 

39, 138 ; of South-east Alaska, 45 ; 

about Sitka, 41 ; at Sum Dum, 41 ; 

Bald Eagle, 42 ; Sheep Creek, 42 ; 

Silver Queen, 42 ; near Juneau, 

42 ; Mexican, 43 ; Ready Bullion, 

43 ; at Berner's Bay, 43 ; at Funta 
Bay, 43 ; near Yakutat, 44 

Miner, published at Juneau, 13S 

Miner, summer work of, 198 ; fall 
work of, 198 ; winter work of, 198; 
spring work of, 198 

Mineral Springs, 24, 25 

Miners, early, 41 

Mining Record, published at Juneau, 
138 

Mink, 76 

Mission, Koserefski, 53, 118 ; New 
Metlakahtla, 118; Sitka, 118 

Molymute Creek, 184 

Monroe Doctrine, time for re-enun- 
ciation of, 216 

Mooraveff, Governor, 147 

Moose, 78 

Mosquitoes, 206 

Mosquito netting, 206 

Moss, 37, 86, 89, 186, 188, 198 

Mount, Crillon, 24; Edgecombe, 149, 
150 ; Fairweather, 24 ; Logan, 25; 
Perouse, 24 ; Rainier, 127 ; St. 
Elias, 3, 21, 23, 24, 53, 150, 219, 
220; Tacoma, 127; Wrangel, 24, 25 

Mountain, Smoky, 158 

Mountain sheep, 79 

Mountains, Ratzel, 180 

Muir, Glacier, 140, 144, 145, 221 

Muir, Prof., 140 

Munook Creek, gold first discovered, 
161 ; rich indications, 162 ; recent 
gold discovery, 185 ; eleven hun- 
dred miles above St. Michaels, 

185 ; within limits of American j 
territory, 185 ; many miners in 
camp on, 185 ; reports flattering, 

186 ; high quality of gold, 186 ; 
winter diggings, 186 

Muscles, 62 
Museum at Sitka, 149 
Muskrats, 77 
McCook, Consul, 51 
McDonald, Alexander, 195 
McMillan River, 166 
McMurray, Fort, 175 
McPherson, Fort, 176 
McQuestion, Jack, 182 



Naha Falls, 133 

Nanaimo, 129 

Nansen, 207 

Native houses, 115 

New Eddystone Rock, 25, 21S 

New Metlakahtla, 58, 119, 132 

Neukluk River, 47 ; ideal mining 

camp, 49 
Noatuck River, 53 
Norman, Fort, 176 
North American Commercial Co., 8, 

70 
North Fork Creek, 187 
Northern aurora, 150 
Northern Route, 170 ; character of, 

170 
North-west mounted police, 195 
North-west Territory, Western Union 

Telegraph Co.'s lines through, 4, 

172 
Norton Sound, 47 
Nowell, Thos. S., 18 
Nugget taken out by winter process 

of mining, 189, 190 ; weight and 

size, 189 ; value, 189 
Nuklukyeto, trading post of A. C. 

Co. at, 162 
Nulato, 30 
Nushagak River, 53 

Ogilvie, Wm., 192 
One Mile River, 154 
Oolikon, 61 
Oomiak, 101 
Ophir Creek, 47, 49 
Organic Act of Alaska, 10 ; pro- 
visions of, 10 
Origin of Eskimos, 93 
Otter Islands, 65 
Oysters, 62 

Packing, 204, 205 

Paris tribunal, 215 

Partners, 202, 203 

Pass, Unalga, 25 ; Unimak, 60 

Patterson Glacier, 136 

Pavlof Volcano, 24 

Peary, 207 

Pcavy, above Arctic Circle, 187; 

land-office at, 187 
Peel River, 176, 177 
Pelly River, 157, 166, 173, 178 
Pemmican, 208, 209 
Peril Strait, 14 
Perouse, Mt.. 24 
Petroleum, 54 



234 



INDEX 



Phiscator, Frank, 193 

Pitchfork Falls, 167 

Placer claims, two classes of, 199 ; 

origin of law regarding, 199, 200 
Placer-miner, life of a, 191 
Placer-mining, difficult in interior, 

188 
Platinum in black sand, 51 
Pogrumnoi Volcano, 24 
Point Barrow, wells at, 22 ; Rescue 

Station at, 83 
Polly Mining Company, 45 
Porcupine Hill, 166, 167 
Porcupine River, 166, 174, 177 
Port Clarence, reindeer station at, 4, 

85 

Portland Canal, 218-221 

Port Townsend, 127 

Preacher Creek, 185 ; peculiar geo- 
logical formation at, 185 

Precipitation, 32, 34 

Pribilof Islands, 63 

Priest Rock, 25 

Prince of Wales, Cape, 26 

Prince of Wales Island, 41, 219, 220 

Prince William Sound, 45, 70 

Prospector, his right to two claims 
by discovery, 160 ; right to one 
claim by location, 160, 199, 206 ; 
supplies of, 201 ; length of time 
to spend in country, 201 ; should 
take money for expenses, 201 ; 
best form in which to carry his 
money, 201 

Providence, Fort, 176 

Provisions for one man for one year, 
210-213 

Pyramid Harbour, 173 

Quass, 109 

Quotation from Seward's speech, 117 

Rafts, 153 

Railroad, Skaguay and White Pass, 

29 ; from Bering Sea, 29, 30 
Rainfall, average, 32 
Rampart City, 185 
Ranche, portion of Sitka called, 149 
Rainier, Mt., 127 
Rapids, Upper and Lower, 146 
Rat River, 177 
Ratzel Mountains, 180 
Ready Bullion Mine, 43 
Reasons causing England to push 

her claim, 222 
Red River, 176 



Reindeer, importation of, 85 : natu- 
ral food for, 85 ; variety of colour, 
87; will solve transportation 
problem in Alaska, 88 ; age to 
break, 88, 89 ; manner of driving, 
89; advantage over horses, 89; 
liberal appropriation for purchase 
of, 89 ; adverse criticism to intro- 
duction of, 90 ; cause of failure of 
importation from Lapland, 90 

Reindeer station, when and where 
established, 85 

Resolution, Fort, 176 

Resurrection Creek, 45 

Rink Rapids, extent of, 157 ; how 
to navigate, 157 

River of Life, 58 

River, Andreafski, 165 ; Anvik, 162, 
187 ; Athabasca, 175 ; Big Salmon 
178 ; Buckland, 50 ; Chilcat, 
173 ; Copper, 53 ; Fish, 46, 47 ; 
Hay, 176 ; Hootalinqua, 156, 172, 
178, 179 ; Indian, 181, 182 ; In- 
noko, 162, 165, 187 ; Kakni, 23 ; 
Kaltag, 29 ; Klanarchergut, 165 ; 
Klondike, 158, 192-198 ; Klu- 
henee, 175 ; Knik, 45 ; Kowak, 
50; Koyukuk, 50, 162, 166^180, 
186, 187 ; Kuskoquim, 32, 53 ; 
Lewes, 157, 178 ; Mackenzie, 

176 ; McMillan, 166 ; Neukluk, 
47, 49 ; Noatuk, 53 ; Nushigak, 
53; One Mile, 154; Peel, 176, 

177 ; Pelly, 157, 166, 173, 178 ; 
Porcupine, 166, 174, 177 ; Rat, 
177 ; Red, 176 ; Selawik, 50 ; 
Skaguay, 167 ; Slave, 175 ; Stew- 
art, 158, 166, 177 ; Stikeen, 135, 
171 ; Sushitna, 45 ; Taku, 172, 
173 ; Tanana, 162, 165, 180, 181 ; 
Thirty Mile, 156; Three Mile, 
155 ; Tozikakat, 162 ; Unalaklik, 
29 ; White, 78, 157, 158 ; Wood, 
52 ; Yukon, 30, 53, 157, 158, 163, 
165 

Rockwell, town of, 39 

Roman Catholic Church, 119 

Rowe, Bishop, 119 

Ruby Creek, 186 

Russia accepts 54° 40 N. lat. for 

southern boundary, 217 
Russians, arrival at Unalaska of 

the, 3 
Russian American Fur Co., early 

posts of, 4, 64 ; expiration of 

charter of, 4 



INDEX 



235 



Russian Czar, 216 

Russian, missionaries, 116; schools, 

116 ; settlers engaged in mining, 

45 ; traders, 64 

Salmon, 56, 133 ; canneries, 57 ; 
salted, 59 

Scales, 152 

School appropriation, 118 

Schools, industrial training, 118 

Schwatka, 173 ; reports of, 44 

Scovel, Sylvester, 167 

Scurvy, 208 

Sea otter, 70 

Seal, Hair, 80 

Seattle, 125, 151, 160, 201 

Secretary of Agriculture, recom- 
mendation of, 36 

Seghers, Archbishop, 122 

Selawik River, 50 

Selkirk, Fort, 173 ; situation of, 
157 ; pillaged and burned in 1853, 
157 

Seventy Mile Creek, 185 

Seward, Secretary, 6, 117 ; ridicule, 
of, 5, i^7 

Seymour Narrows, 129, 146 

Shagluk Slough, 165 

Shallow Lake, 168 

Shamans or doctors, in 

Sheep Camp, 152 

Sheep Creek Mine, 42 

Sheep, mountain, 79 

Shipwrecked whalers, rescue of, 90 

Shishaldin, Mt., 24 

Shortness of season made up in 
length of day, 188 

Shumagni, 60 

Siberia, 26 

Silent City, 141-144 

Silos and ensilage, 35 

Silver, bought and sold by Troy 
weight, 205 ; deposits, 47 

Silver Queen Mine, 42 

Simeonoff Island, 60 

Simpson, Fort, 176 

Sitka, 35, 146-149; industrial school 
at, 149 ; native population of, 
149 ; white population of, 149 ; hot 
spring near, 26 

Six Mile Creek, 45 

Sixty Mile Creek, 158, 180 ; trading- 
post and saw-mill at, 158 

Skaguay, 138, 201 ; its past, present, 
and future, 168, 169 ; railroad 
from, 29, 169 



Skaguay River, 167 

Skaguay Route, total length of, 168 ; 
mostly used in summer of 1897, 
168 ; built by British corporation, 
166 ; where it begins, 166 ; where 
it leads, 166 

Skookum Gulch, 193 

Slate Creek, 186 

Slave River, 175 

Sled of miner, 204 

Sledges, Eskimo mode of making, 204 

Smelt, 61 

Smith, Fort, 175 

Smoky Mountain, 158 

Snow, deep, 32 ; character of, 33 ; 
never eat, 206 

Snowstorm, 207 

Soil, character of, 34, 35 

South Channel, 176 

South Fork Creek, tributary to Birch 
Creek, 184, 185 ; tributary to 
Koyukuk River, 187 

South-east Alaska, 19 ; boundary of, 
3 ; timber in, 52 

Southern route from Telegraph 
Creek to Teslin Lake, 170 

Spaniards, first explorations of, 3 

Spanish explorers at Sitka, 3 

Spruce timber, 52 

St. Elias, Mt., discovery of, 3 ; 
height of, 3 ; description of, 23, 
53, 150, 219, 220 ; glacier in vicin- 
ity of, 24 

St. George Island, 65 

St. Michaels, 30, 162 ; wells at, 22 ; 
principal trading post of A. C. 
Co. for 30 years, 163 ; location of, 
163 ; termed a "summer town," 
163 ; population of, 163, 164 ; 
scenes of activity at, 164 ; object- 
ive point, 164 ; became military 
post, 164 ; improvements made by 
A. C. Co., 164 ; improvements 
made by N. A. T. Co., 164; 
under military control, 165 

Stars and Stripes, hoisting of, 7 

Stewart River, 158, 166, 177 ; coun- 
try very promising, 179 ; many 
large tributaries to, 1 79; gold found 
on all its bars, 179 ; no great strike 
on, 179 ; miners have faith in fu- 
ture of, 179 ; deposits of ore pre- 
dicted, 180 ; timber found on 
banks, 180 ; ground adapted to 
agriculture, 180 ; animals abound 
in wood near, 180 



236 



IXDEX 



Stikeen River, 135, 171 ; difficulties 
in navigating, 171 

Stikeen River Route, 169 ; British 
Government interested in, 169 ; 
character of country about, 171 

Stimulants to be avoided, 209 ; ef- 
fect of, 209 

Stock-raising, 36 

Stony, Lieut., 50 

Strawberries, 34 

Strip of territory involved in bound- 
ary dispute, 215: attention now 
being directed to this, 216 ; value 
of, 216 ; key to interior of Alaska, 
216 

Sulphur Creek, 1S2 

Sum Dum Chief Mine, 42 

Summer, long days of, 22, iSS 

Summer diggings, 189 

Summit, 152, 16S ; difficulty of ford- 
ing at foot of, 16S ; how best to 
accomplish journey over, 152, 202, 
203 ; altitude of, 16S 

Summit Lake, 168 

Sumner, Chas. , Alaska named by, 6 

Sunrise City, 45 

Supplies, where to purchase, 201, 
202 ; quantity of, 202 ; kind of, 

202 

Sushitna River, 45 
Swineford, Gov. A. P., 17 
Syphilitic diseases, natives afflicted 
with, 26 

Table of distances, 223, 224 ; from 
Dyea over pass to Dawson, 224, 
225 ; from St. Michaels to Daw- 
son, 225 

Tacoma, 127 

Tacoma, Mt., 127 

Tagish Lake, 155 

Taku Inlet, 136 

Taku River, 172, 173 

Taku Route, 172 ; not practicable 
for freighting, 173 

Tanana River, 162, 165, 180, 181 ; 
length and tributaries of, 162 ; ex- 
tent of country it drains, 162 ; 
slightly explored, 162 ; natives on, 
ill-disposed toward whites, 162 

Tea, 209 

Telegraph Creek, 170-172 

Telegraph line, 4 ; begun in the 
6o's, 172 ; why abandoned, 172 ; 
to be rejuvenated, 172 

Temperature, low, 33 



Territorial organisation, opposition 
to, 19 

Territories, formation of new, 19 

Teslin Lake, 170, 171 ; timber at, 
172 ; saw-mill at, 172 

The Mystic Maze, 131 

Thermometer, range of, 207 

Thirty Mile River, 156 

Thornton, C. W., 144 

Thornton, Harrison R., 122 

Three Mile River, 155 

Timber, varieties of, 52, 53 

Tongas Island, 131 

Tongas Narrows, 133 

Too Much Gold Creek, 193, 194 

Totem poles, significance of, no 

Tourist Route, 124 

Tozikakat River, 162 

Tread well, John, 39 

Treadwell Mine, 39, 40, 138 

Treaty of 1825, between Russia and 
England, 216, 217 ; original lan- 
guage of, 217 ; little known of 
region at time of, 218 ; correctly 
interpreted, 223 

Troy weight, 205 

Tuck, John A., Mr. and Mrs., 122 

Tundra, 37, 86 

Turnagain Arm, 45 

Turner, L. M., 93 

Ukase of Russian Czar, 216, 217 
Unalaklik River, 29 
Unalaska Island, 24 
Unalya Pass, 25 
Unga, 46 

Unimak Island, 24 
Unimak Pass, 60 

United States law regarding lease of 
mineral land, 200 

Valdez Inlet, 45 
Valdez Island, 129 
Vancouver, Capt. Geo., 218 
Vancouver Island, 129 
Vancouver, Lieut., 3 ; first explora- 
tions of, 4 ; accuracy of his charts, 

4 
Vassileff, Count Nicholas, 147, 148 
Vegetables, 34 

Vegetation, luxuriance of, 22, 34 
Verstovoi, Mt., 150 
Victoria, 128 
Volcano, Bogoston, 24 ; Makushin, 

24 ; Pavlof, 24 ; Pogrumnoi, 24 ; 

Shishaldin, 24 



INDEX 



237 



Walker Cove, 220 

Walrus, 81 

Western Alaska, 3 

Western Union Telegraph Co., route 
of, 4 ; outposts of, 4 ; their line 
may be rejuvenated, 172 

Whale, Beluga, So ; black, 80 ; bow- 
head, 81 ; grampus, 80 ; right, 
81 ; threatened annihilation of, 82 

Whaling vessels, number of, 82 

Whalebone, 80 

White River, 78, 157, 158 

White Horse Rapids, J 56 

White Pass Route, 166 

Wild Creek, 1S7 

Wild fruits, 35 

Williams, Tom, bearer of letters 
from Forty Mile, 182, 183 ; his 
trip, 183 ; suffering, 183 ; his In- 
dian guide reaches Dyea, 183 ; 
success of mission, 183; his 
death, 1S3 

Willow timber, 53 

Willoughby Island, 43, 140 

Willoughby, Prof., 140-143 

Winter, length of, 33 

Winter diggings, 49, 189, 198 

Witchcraft, no 

Wolverines, 78 



Wolves, 78 

Women, trip to Yukon may be made 

by, 203 ; endurance of, 203 ; need 

of, 203 
World, New York, donation of, 167 
Wrangel, Baron, 135 
Wrangel, Fort, 137, 171 
Wrangel Narrows, 135 
Wrangell, Mt., 24, 25 
Wrigley, Fort, 176 

Yakutat, mines near, 44 

Young, Rev. Hall, 122 

Yukon Flats, 161 ; extent of, 161 ; 
low country, 161 

Yukon, Fort, 33 

Yukon River, 177 ; at mouth, 30 ; 
timber on, 53 ; below White River, 
158 ; below Sixty Mile River, 1 58 ; 
why no town nearer mouth, 163 ; 
greatest depth found at mouth, 
163 ; free for navigation about 
middle of June, 163 ; traverses an 
empire, 165 ; kind of steamers 
that can navigate, 165, 166 ; how 
far navigable, 165, 166 ; width of 
mouth, 165 ; course of, 165 ; 
width at different points, 165 ; 
navigable tributaries of, 165, 166 



BOOKS OF TRAVEL 



Camping in the Canadian Rockies 

An Account of Camp Life in the Wilder Parts of the Canadian 
Rocky Mountains, together with a Description of the 
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With 25 full-page photogravures, and many text illustra- 
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with map. Large 8°, gilt top, $3.00. 

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Chicago Evening Post. 

Two Women in the Klondike 

The Story of a Journey to the Gold-Fields of Alaska. By 
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Alaska 

Its History and Resources, Gold-Fields, Routes, and Scenery. 
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G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London 



BELLES=LETTRES 



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More Colonial Homesteads 

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Little Journeys to the Homes of 

Women | 2 vols., Must., I American Authors | 2 vol 

n and Great \ $3.50. | American Statesmen f $ 

Also sold separately, each $1.75, or 4 vols, in box, $7.00. 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London 



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